U.S. Relations with the People's Republic of China (2006)

U.S. Department of State

Interview With Eberhard Piltz of ZDF

Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Riga, Latvia
November 28, 2006

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QUESTION: Which is more important in the Security Council -- unity of the community of states or the promulgation of sanctions?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, we have to have both. The Security Council, if it's to be taken seriously, has got to live up to all requirements. We should remember that in July of this year we had Resolution 1696, which said that if Iran did not suspend enrichment activities by August 31st there would be action under Article 41 of Chapter 7. Now we have got to follow through on that, or what is the credibility of the Security Council? When it speaks, it has to act. And so we are working with our European-3 colleagues and -- Germany, France, and Great Britain -- also with China and Russia, but the international community needs to act or we are going to encourage proliferators to believe that the Security Council's word means nothing.

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