US Gets a 'Dose of Its Own Medicine' From China

US Gets a 'Dose of Its Own Medicine' From China

by Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS - The 15-member Security Council, the only UN body wielding power to impose mandatory sanctions on the organization's 192 member states, is unable to help contain two ongoing crises primarily because of threatened vetoes by China and the United States.

The two draft resolutions currently before the Security Council - one to punish North Korea for last week's missile tests and the other to condemn Israel for its military incursion into Gaza last month - are virtually in limbo.

The deadlock has been aggravated further by Wednesday's invasion of southern Lebanon by Israeli military forces in retaliation for the kidnapping of two soldiers by Hezbollah, an Islamic militant group influential in Lebanese politics.

The United States, which seeks to penalize the North Koreans for defying Washington, is frustrated because China has publicly announced its decision to veto any resolution that imposes sanctions on Pyongyang.

"What goes around, comes around," says an Asian diplomat, who points out that the United States has exercised its veto over 35 times to protect Israel from Security Council condemnation.

"North Korea is perceived as China's Israel," he said. "So the U.S. is getting a bitter dose of its own medicine."

Continued...