By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - China accused the USA of double requirements on the United Nations on Friday for difficult Beijing's sovereignty over Taiwan whereas emphasizing the precept of sovereignty for Ukraine after Russian forces invaded.
A day after Chinese language chief Xi Jinping warned U.S. President Joe Biden in a cellphone name towards enjoying with hearth over Taiwan, deputy U.N. Ambassador Geng Shuang strengthened the message throughout a gathering on Ukraine on the 15-member U.N. Safety Council.
"Whereas some nation has repeatedly emphasised the precept of sovereignty over the difficulty of Ukraine, it has incessantly challenged the sovereignty of China over Taiwan, and even intentionally created pressure within the Taiwan Strait," Geng mentioned, a transparent reference to the USA with out naming it.
Russia says it's finishing up a "particular army operation" to root out harmful nationalists from its neighbor Ukraine however Kyiv and the West say it's an unprovoked warfare of aggression.
The willpower of China to defend its nationwide sovereignty and territorial integrity shouldn't be underestimated, Geng mentioned. "I hope the nation involved will see this clearly and never play with hearth."
Beijing is worried a few doable go to to the Chinese language-claimed island of Taiwan by U.S. Home of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Such a go to could be a dramatic, although not unprecedented, present of U.S. help for Taiwan.
Biden advised Xi on Thursday that U.S. coverage on Taiwan had not modified and that Washington strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the established order or undermine peace and stability throughout the Taiwan Strait, the White Home mentioned.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who addressed the council earlier than Geng's speech, mentioned Russia had "successfully set the U.N. Constitution on hearth." The constitution says the United Nations relies on the precept of the sovereign equality of all members and they need to settle worldwide disputes by peaceable means.
"There ought to not be any doubt, as we warned early this yr, that Russia intends to dismantle Ukraine as a geopolitical entity and dissolve it from the world map fully," Thomas-Greenfield mentioned.
The U.S. mission to the United Nations didn't instantly reply to a request for touch upon Geng's remarks.
Deputy Russian U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy accused Western states of finishing up a proxy warfare towards Russia by supplying Ukraine authorities forces with weapons.
"The de-Nazification and demilitarization of Ukraine will probably be carried out in full," Polyanskiy mentioned, utilizing Moscow's official language to explain the Feb. 24 invasion. "There should not be a menace from this state to Donbas (border area of Ukraine) nor to Russia nor to the liberated Ukrainian territories."
U.N. political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo advised the assembly that the battle had entered "a extra protracted section" and "regrettably, political dialogue has nearly floor to a halt."
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; modifying by Grant McCool)
