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| The UN General Assembly in New York (AFP Photo/TIMOTHY A. CLARY) |
The United States and China remained at loggerheads Thursday over a UN Security Council draft resolution calling for a 90-day humanitarian pause in conflicts worldwide in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
The
stalemate -- over a mention of the World Health Organization -- leaves little
hope of a quick vote as the Security Council struggles to find a response to
the global crisis, remaining largely mute since the once-in-a-century pandemic
began killing tens of thousands of people and shutting down economies across
the world.
"It's
a major stalemate, nobody's moving," one diplomat told AFP, speaking on
condition of anonymity.
"We're
treading water," said another.
At a news
conference, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres deplored the impasse.
"It's
absolutely essential that countries come together and that the big powers are
able to overcome their difficulties in order to allow for the Security Council
to be more active and more effective," he said.
"We
need unity and strength from the international community. All our efforts
depend on strong political backing."
The text,
authored by France and Tunisia and obtained by AFP, has been under discussion
for weeks.
It calls
for a 90-day humanitarian pause to bring aid to the most vulnerable populations
caught in conflicts around the globe, including in places such as Afghanistan
and Yemen.
The draft
also supports a March 23 plea by Guterres for a worldwide ceasefire to
facilitate the fight against the coronavirus.
But
Washington and Beijing remain at loggerheads over how to refer to the World
Health Organization (WHO) in the text.
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The UN
General Assembly in New York (AFP Photo/TIMOTHY A. CLARY)
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The WHO's
role in dealing with the pandemic has been vilified by US President Donald
Trump, who complained it had not been transparent about the coronavirus and
suspended US funding to it. China responded by offering additional funding.
China
"insists on a mention of the World Health Organization" in the text,
while the United States does not want it, several diplomats explained, asking
for anonymity.
"We
don't comment on ongoing negotiations" at the Security Council, the US
State Department said when asked about the stalemate.
No reaction
could be obtained from the Chinese mission to the UN.
The
co-authors of the text, like the rest of the Security Council, are reduced to
waiting for a compromise between the two permanent members, each of which has a
right of veto.
There has
been no progress since the beginning of the week, other diplomats added.
Blank
paragraph
A vote had
been expected this week, and Guterres has been pressing for one for more than a
month. But this seems less and less likely over the short term because of the
disagreement between the US and China.
"I am
particularly worried about the lack of sufficient solidarity with developing
countries -- both in equipping them to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, which
risks spreading like wildfire, and to address the dramatic economic and social
impacts," Guterres said.
One
diplomat said there will probably not be a vote this week."Let's see if
next week will bring something new," this diplomat said.
The
stalemate could end quickly if the US and China find a compromise, one Western
ambassador said. The WHO mention is just a side issue in a draft centered on
support for a ceasefire in some 20 war or conflict zones around the world, this
ambassador said.
As it
stands, the resolution now has a blank space where the WHO mention is supposed
to go and how to fashion it will be decided at the end of the negotiations.
France and Tunisia could simply decide to scrap such a mention altogether,
although this idea might be vetoed by China, with support from Russia.
Except for
a virtual meeting on April 9, the Security Council has remained silent on the
biggest global crisis since World War II.
