Authority of UN Security Council Should not be Hurt: Chinese Paper

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, February 28, 2003

Authority of UN Security Council Should not be Hurt: Chinese Paper

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The authority of the U.N. Security Council should be respected by all member nations and should in no way be challenged by any country, said an article carried Friday by the People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China.

After the end of the Cold War, the U.N. Security Council shoulders a much greater responsibility for safeguarding international peace and security, so its authority should be strengthened and earnestly protected, said the article.

The council played an important role last year in coordinating international combat against terrorism, stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan and seeking solutions to regional conflicts in Africa.

Particularly on the anti-terrorist front, the Security Council has an indispensable and irreplaceable part to play and the broad-based international coalition under it is of vital importance.

As the U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has pointed out, the United Nations is the only organization which can act as a proper forum for the anti-terrorist coalition and coordinate the efforts by member nations in their fight against global terrorism, while the Security Council serves as the nerves center for the entire world body.

On the Iraq issue, the 15-member Security Council has been divided into two major groups, with most of the members supporting continued weapons inspection and the United States, Britain and Spain pressing for a new U.N. resolution authorizing a military action against Iraq.

The United States has been building up its military presence around the Gulf region over the past month. And meanwhile it has also been pressing the council to adopt a new resolution authorizing the use of force.

U.S. President George W. Bush said on Feb. 25 that it was not important whether the Security Council would pass the draft resolution or not and that the United States would circumvent the council to launch attacks on Iraq if necessary.

On the other end of the spectrum, the article said, the rest of the international community offered their unreserved support to and genuine respect for the Security Council by seeking political and diplomatic solutions to the Iraq crisis and calling for more time for weapons inspection.

The two different approaches to the Iraqi crisis showed two different stances on the authority of the Security Council.

To the U.S. administration, a respect for the Security Council's authority means following the American way.

Fortunately enough, even in the United States, most people believe that any use of force should be authorized by the U.N. Security Council, because they have realized that international cooperation is required for combating terrorism and the reconstruction of Iraq will also need international assistance.

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