A Chinese envoy at the United Nations on Wednesday called for countries to practice true multilateralism after the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) voted to remove Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
On Wednesday, the ECOSOC voted on the United States request to revoke Iran’s membership in the CSW and adopted the resolution with 29 votes for, eight against and 16 abstentions. China voted against it and pointed out that the resolution has ulterior motives and is full of loopholes.
Geng Shuang, China’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, said that the draft resolution has no basis in law, is imposed on others, and does not help solve the problem. In the draft, the sponsor talked about the human rights situation in Iran, but never mentioned the great suffering caused to Iranian women by its own indiscriminate unilateral sanctions against Iran. This is blatant bullying, hypocrisy and double standards, he said
“For a period of time, there have been many strange situations in the UN. From the General Assembly to the Human Rights Council, from the Human Rights Council to the Economic and Social Council, a few countries have abused multilateral platforms, obsessed with undermining cooperation, undermining consensus, and provoking confrontation. Without the consent of the countries concerned, they instigated highly destructive country-specific resolutions one after another, and forced member states to choose sides, artificially creating divisions among member states. The real purpose of the countries is to coerce member states to take their sides to turn UN agencies into tools to serve these countries’ own political interests and interfere in the internal affairs of other countries,” said Geng.
He noted China is an active advocate and supporter of human rights and women’s cause, and has always advocated adherence to real multilateralism.
China believes that dealing with human rights and women’s issues by removing Iran’s membership in the commission will only set a dangerous precedent, send a wrong signal, and produce adverse consequences.
China calls on members of the ECOSOC to jointly defend multilateralism, oppose unilateral actions, support dialogue and cooperation, and resist division and confrontation.
Russia, Belarus, Cuba, Venezuela, Pakistan and other countries also expressed their opposition to the draft resolution proposed by the United States, believing that the resolution will not help improve the status of Iranian women and is only a political operation against hostile countries.
