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More than a dozen European countries are drafting a resolution in the United Nations to condemn the Syrian government for deliberate attacks against its own citizens. But China is rebuking the resolution--saying the U.N. should not interfere with Syria's internal affairs--and implying they might block it if it came to a vote.
Chinese authorities are voicing concern over a draft resolution calling for the U.N. Security Council to denounce the Syrian government. The resolution would condemn Syria's attacks on its own citizens since March, when anti-government demonstrations there began.
The draft resolution was circulated to the 15-nation council last week by Britain, France, Germany, and Portugal.
Human Rights Watch says that Syrian security forces have already killed more than 800 civilians. Numerous eyewitnesses have reported being tortured.
[Nadim Houry, Senior Researcher, Human Rights Watch]
"What's been going on in Syria is a systematic campaign by the Syrian authorities to crush the protest movement that started in mid-March... It's basically a government waging a war against its own people."
But United Nations veto powers Russia and China have expressed concern over the draft resolution. China insists the international community should not interfere in Syria's internal affairs.
China expert and political science professor Edward Friedman says the Chinese regime fears setting a precedent—for other countries to condemn the Communist Party for its own human rights abuses.
[Prof. Edward Friedman, University of Wisconsin-Madison]
"The Chinese Communist Party regime is an authoritarian government and it certainly does not want to do anything which would legitimate any international body condemning its own authoritarian practices at home."
