U.S. Relations With the People's Republic of China (2008)

Office of Press and Public Diplomacy
United States Mission to the United Nations
140 East 45th Street
New York, N.Y. 10017

USUN PRESS RELEASE # 181(08)
July 11, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Statement by Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. Permanent Representative, on Zimbabwe, in the Security Council, July 11, 2008

The United States is disappointed that the Russian Federation and China today prevented the Security Council from adopting a strong resolution condemning and sanctioning the violent regime of Robert Mugabe.

China and Russia have stood with Mugabe against the people of Zimbabwe. More than a majority of the Security Council members stood with the people of Zimbabwe by demanding that Mugabe put an end, an immediate end, to the violence and the start of serious negotiations with the opposition.

The draft resolution would have supported the courageous efforts of the Zimbabwean people to change their lives peacefully through democratic elections.

Unfortunately, the Russian Federation and China blocked the adoption of this draft resolution for reasons that we think are not borne out by the facts on the ground.

[ ...Intervening Text... ]