China vetoes ‘evasive’ US proposal as UN Security Council remains deadlocked on Israel-Gaza war

Beijing opposes draft resolution because it fails to call for ceasefire and makes no mention of Israeli army’s evacuation order

Chinese ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun says the draft is ‘seriously out of balance’ and ‘confuses right and wrong’

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The US proposal calls for a humanitarian pause in the Israel-Gaza conflict to enable the delivery of aid. Photo: Reuters

Published: 6:10pm, 26 Oct 2023Updated: 6:38pm, 26 Oct 2023

Beijing has vetoed a US-backed proposal at the UN Security Council on the situation in Gaza, calling it “evasive” and “seriously out of balance”, as the body remains deadlocked in delivering a response to the Israel-Gaza war.

The US draft resolution called for a humanitarian pause to enable the delivery of aid to Gaza. It also reaffirmed the “inherent right of all states” to self-defence while fully complying with international law.

However, the proposal elicited harsh criticism from Beijing because it failed to call for a ceasefire and made no mention of the Israeli military’s evacuation order calling for over 1 million people to leave northern Gaza.

“The draft does not reflect the world’s strongest calls for a ceasefire and an end to the fighting, and it does not help resolve the issue,” China’s ambassador to the United Nations Zhang Jun told the council after the vote on Wednesday.

“In terms of the content, the draft is seriously out of balance and confuses right and wrong.”

On Friday, 193 UN General Assembly members will vote on a draft resolution by Arab states that calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and the rescission of the Israeli evacuation order. The resolution will not be legally binding like Security Council resolutions, but would have symbolic weight.

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