UN Security Council: Why Moscow and Beijing expose Germany

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To say goodbye, there was another strong kick: shortly before the end of the temporary German membership in the UN Security Council, the representatives of Russia and China clashed violently with the German UN ambassador Christoph Heusgen.

In a session on Syria, he criticized that Russia and China, with their blockade in the UN Security Council, would contribute to making important humanitarian aid deliveries to Syria more difficult.

The regime of dictator Bashar al-Assad now only allows aid deliveries through a single border crossing and can always count on the support of Moscow and Beijing in the UN Security Council.

Heusgen therefore described it as "very cynical" when the two permanent members of the UN Security Council complained that aid supplies could not reach Syria.

Heusgen complained that the UN Security Council had "dropped" the people in Syria.

Russia not only supports the Syrian ruler Assad in the civil war, but also contributes to the “suffering and death” of the people itself.

Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas took stock of two years of German work in the Security Council this week and criticized the fact that the permanent members of the body often blocked one another.

"The Security Council was polarized far too often," said Maas.

One of the most difficult moments was when Russia and China almost prevented humanitarian access to Syria.

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Such finger-pointing did not go down well with either country.

The Russian UN Deputy Ambassador Dmitri Poljansky replied to Heusgen that if the Security Council drops the Syrian population, it is because of the “hypocritical behavior” of Germany and the West.

And addressed directly to Heusgen, he said: “We will not miss you.” At the end of the year, after two years of temporary membership, Germany is leaving the most powerful body of the United Nations.

Berlin has been trying for some time to get a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

Moscow has now clearly rejected this.

Because of the behavior of the German representatives in the Security Council, many UN member states that had previously supported Germany's permanent membership are now asking themselves whether “so much cynicism” should be allowed in the body, said Polyansky.

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The Chinese representative Yao Shaojun put Berlin in its place even more clearly.

"Germany's appearance in the Security Council has not met the expectations of the world and the expectations of the Council," said the Chinese diplomat.

Therefore, the German way to permanent membership would be "difficult".

The German UN ambassador Heusgen is known for not always appearing particularly sensitive, but he has seldom caught such a clear rebuff on the open stage.

The background to this is a dispute that is almost as old as the Syrian civil war, namely whether a murderous regime like Assad, which is constantly violating international law, is allowed to control aid deliveries, which are also intended for the sections of the population who Assad fights bloodily.

Assad and his supporters in the UN Security Council have always insisted that aid be distributed through the regime, which gives it leverage and enables its own people to be given preferential treatment.

The West kept looking for arrangements to provide aid directly to the people hardest hit by the civil war.

The argument about how many border crossings can be used for this is only the final version of this long argument.

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Russia has long been loyal to Assad and has even intervened militarily in the civil war to support him.

Moscow's position in the UN Security Council with regard to Assad is therefore very clear.

For Beijing, the matter is a little more abstract.

For some time now, the country has positioned itself much more aggressively as the ideological adversary of the West and has therefore taken sides with authoritarian and anti-Western regimes.

And like many dictatorships, China stubbornly defends state sovereignty and the concept of non-interference in internal affairs against attempts by the West to spread democratic and liberal values.

For Beijing, the question of who controls humanitarian aid to Syria is therefore also one of the principle.

Ultimately, the point is to prevent precedents for outside interference.

The fact that China is so vocal in the UN Security Council is relatively new.

Since President Xi Jinping took office in 2012, the country has been systematically expanding its influence in the UN.

China's contributions to the world body are now in second place - behind those of the USA.

Beijing's involvement has traditionally focused primarily on development work.

Beijing is negotiating with Moscow

But for some time now, China has also been flexing its muscles in the heart of the UN: in the field of peace and security policy.

That is why the heart of the UN, the Security Council, is increasingly becoming a focus of attention in China.

Beijing is practicing a tactical partnership with Moscow there.

In July Russia and China vetoed further aid deliveries from Turkey to Syria.

The draft resolution was introduced by Germany and Belgium.

The irony: Despite the human rights violations in their own country and the refusal to improve the human rights situation in Syria, China was elected by the UN General Assembly in October as a member of the Human Rights Council for three years.

In the network of 15 UN specialized agencies, the People's Republic occupies leadership positions in four organizations - more than any other country.

This shows how much the influence of undemocratic regimes has grown in international organizations.

A factor that was exacerbated by the failure of the US as a leading western nation in the Trump years.

Regardless of the specific subject of the dispute and the long-term trends in international organizations, Moscow and Beijing also seem to have intended to trim Berlin down again as they parted.

Heiko Maas admits failure of mediation efforts

Unfortunately, due to the tensions between Turkey, Cyprus and Greece, there were no direct talks.

Foreign Minister Maas said there were “far too many provocations”.

Therefore, one will now advise on the consequences.

Source: WORLD

Hardly anyone believes that Germany's application for a permanent seat on the Security Council has a realistic chance of success.

Apparently Russia and China did not want to miss the opportunity to humiliate Berlin again.

And that may have something to do with the change in German attitudes towards Moscow and Beijing.

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Since the attempted murder of the Russian opposition politician Alexej Navalny with nerve poison and its treatment in Berlin, the attitude of the German public towards the Putin regime has become significantly more negative, and criticism from the federal government has also become sharper.

The same applies to the relationship with China.

Berlin used to only treat Beijing with kid gloves because of the economic interests of German companies in the huge empire.

That is also changing now.

The crackdown on the freedom movement in Hong Kong, which also violates the agreement with Great Britain on the return of the former crown colony, has changed public attitudes towards Beijing.

And the danger posed by China's aggressive reaching out and its strategy of technological dominance has also become sharper in Germany this year.

It is quite possible that China's aggressive behavior towards Heusgen in the UN Security Council should act as a deterrent and as a foretaste of what Berlin would have to expect if it takes more critical positions towards Beijing in the future.