Frustration is mounting against China and Russia for blocking attempts at any meaningful intervention in the Syrian Uprising, which some are saying now borders on a civil war.
At a meeting in Paris, US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton spoke out harshly against what she considers tantamount support of the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
[Hilary Clinton, US Secretary of State]:
"I will tell you very frankly. I don't believe Russia and China believe they are paying any price at all. Nothing at all for standing up on behalf of the Assad regime. The only way that will change is that if every nation represented here directly and urgently makes it clear that Russia and China will pay a price because they are holding up progress, blockading it. That is no longer tolerable.”
More than 100 countries, known as the Friends of Syria, are attending today’s meeting. China and Russia did not attend.
Both countries are trade partners with Syria and have vetoed previous UN Security Council efforts to condemn the violence and force al-Assad from power.
