China will vote against UNSC expansion plan

Making clear its stance on the proposals mooted by India and three other aspirants for an expanded United Nations Security Council, China said it will vote against any 'highly contentious' expansion formula, which could split the United Nations membership, if such a proposal was put to vote in the General Assembly.

"China is opposed to artificially setting a time limit for the reform of the Security Council," the official Xinhua news agency quoted the Chinese ambassador to the UN, Wang Guangya, as telling a closed-door General Assembly debate in New York on Wednesday.

"If a formula on which there exists major differences is forcibly put to a vote, China will resolutely vote against it," Wang said, apparently referring to the move by India, Brazil, Germany and Japan, collectively known as G-4.

• China non-committal on backing India for UNSC

 The 191-nation assembly on Tuesday started a two-day closed-door debate on the UN reforms.

Adoption of a resolution in the assembly requires two-thirds of majority. China, one of the five existing permanent members of
the Security Council, can't exercise veto power in the assembly.

Wang said that the enlargement of the UNSC is only one part of the UN reforms as a whole and recent debates surrounding the council's enlargement has already affected and impaired discussions on other major items.

"The preparation for the September summit, especially the discussion on how to concentrate efforts to address the question of development, has been greatly hijacked," he pointed out.