US reversal stops UN Security Council vote on coronavirus pandemic truce

UNITED NATIONS • The United States has stunned the United Nations (UN) Security Council by preventing a vote on a resolution for a ceasefire in various conflicts around the world to help troubled countries better fight the coronavirus pandemic, diplomats said.

Washington's reversal on Friday came a day after it agreed to the text, negotiators said, requesting anonymity.

"The United States cannot support the current draft," the country's delegation declared, without further detail, to the 14 other Security Council members, after nearly two months of difficult negotiation over the text.

When asked for an explanation, a US State Department official told Agence France-Presse that China had "repeatedly blocked compromises that would have allowed the Council to move forward".

Diplomats said that the language used in the draft to describe the World Health Organisation (WHO) was behind the move to prevent the vote.

Other sources said Washington wanted the Council to return to an initial draft, which highlighted the need for transparency in global cooperation in tackling the pandemic.

"In our view, the Council should either proceed with a resolution limited to support for a ceasefire, or a broadened resolution that fully addresses the need for renewed member state commitment to transparency and accountability in the context of Covid-19," the State Department official said.

US President Donald Trump has accused the WHO of downplaying the seriousness of the outbreak in China.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been pushing for a cessation of hostilities around the world since March 23, urging all sides in conflict to lay down arms and allow war-torn countries to combat the coronavirus.

The latest version of the text, obtained by Agence France-Presse, called for a cessation of hostilities in conflict zones and a 90-day "humanitarian pause" to allow governments to better address the pandemic among those who are suffering the most.

It called on all nations to "enhance coordination" in the Covid-19 fight and highlighted the "urgent need to support all countries, as well as all relevant entities of the United Nations system, including specialised health agencies, and other relevant international, regional, and sub-regional organisation".

This wording, which implicitly refers to the WHO without naming it, was the compromise obtained from the US and China on Thursday night, according to diplomats.

Washington had threatened to use its veto if there were any explicit reference to the WHO.

Beijing brandished its own veto if the global health body were not mentioned before accepting that it would not be.

Tensions between the two countries have increased in recent months over the pandemic.

The US issued a new rule on Friday, tightening visa guidelines for Chinese journalists, with the Department of Homeland Security saying it was in response to China's "suppression of independent journalism".

The regulation, which will take effect tomorrow, will limit visas for Chinese reporters to a 90-day period, with the option for extension.

US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have both claimed there is evidence the pathogen came from a maximum-security lab, the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

China responded on Wednesday that questions over the origin of the virus should be left to scientists, "not politicians who lie for their own domestic political ends".

Mr Trump has lashed out at the World Health Organisation (WHO), calling it a "puppet for China".

He said on Friday that the US will soon announce plans on funding for the United Nations agency, which he says was complicit in the spread of the virus by accepting China's claims about the severity of the outbreak.

US lawmakers, in a letter sent on Friday to nearly 60 countries, have asked them to support Taiwan's participation in the WHO, citing the need for the broadest effort possible to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

Taiwan has been excluded from the WHO, owing to objections from China, which sees the island as a renegade province which must eventually be reunited with the mainland.

Mr Trump has cast doubt on the future of his phase one trade deal with China, saying on Friday that he has been struggling with Beijing in the wake of the pandemic.

His remarks contrasted with statements earlier on Friday from Chinese and US top trade negotiators, who pledged to "create favourable conditions" for the phase one trade deal signed in January.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Barry passed through the Taiwan Strait twice last month. And the amphibious assault ship USS America last month conducted exercises in the East China Sea and South China Sea, the United States Indo-Pacific Command said.

Any miscalculation over Taiwan, the East China Sea or the South China Sea could lead to conflicts which would be a disaster not just for the two giants, but also for the rest of the world.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS