New York: China blocked a discussion in the UN Security Council on the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world, sought earlier this week by Estonia, in a sign that reflects the limitations of the apex body of global governance to debate the burning issues of the day. Estonia, which is a non-permanent member, had asked for a meeting on the pandemic last week. The document stressed the “growing concern about the unprecedented extent of the Covid-19 outbreak in the world, which may constitute a threat to international peace and security".
The proposal, however, did not go far, with both China and Russia nixing the idea. Sources said it did not appear as if the P-5 were overly keen to hold a meeting on a subject that is devastating countries and the global economy, virtually without any early end in sight. Some reports said the Estonian proposal called for “transparency” which China was reportedly unwilling to address. Beijing has been facing a volley of allegations that it hid the incidence of the highly infectious coronavirus for over a month before reporting cases of unexplained pneumonia in Wuhan in late 2019.
While the UN stonewalled a discussion when the G-20 leaders sat down for a unique virtual summit, there was no questioning for transparency or origin of the virus. Official sources said the conversation was collaborative and cooperative, which means the US and China may have put their mutual acrimony behind for the moment.
In 2015, the Security Council did hold a similar meeting when the Ebola virus was a looming threat, particularly to UN missions in Africa. But this time it’s different. Not only is China the source of the pandemic, the US-China rivalry is playing out in the background as well with President Donald Trump insisting on referring to the disease as ‘China virus’.
According to recent reports, the UN Security Council has not met since March 12. Calls for virtual UNSC meetings in the era of social distancing and lockdowns have also found no merit with either China or Russia.
