【英语中国】中国阻止联合国通过决议谴责朝鲜

China is blocking a United Nations Security Council move to condemn North Korea for the March sinking of a South Korean warship, say diplomats familiar with council negotiations.

Beijing is refusing to blame North Korea for the sinking of the corvette Cheonan, in which 46 South Korean sailors died, and won't label the incident an 'attack,' according to two Western diplomats.

Chinese representatives weren't available to comment.

An international investigation concluded in May that the Cheonan was sunk in South Korean waters by a North Korean torpedo, a charge Pyongyang denies. The Security Council has been struggling for weeks to reach agreement on a response, the diplomats said.

South Korea hasn't asked for sanctions against the North over the incident. It initially sought a Security Council resolution condemning the attack. It also wants an apology and compensation from North Korea, the diplomats said.

China objected to a resolution in favor of a formal statement, which, unlike a resolution, is reached through consensus, not a vote, and carries less weight than a resolution.

'The Chinese will only allow condemning the attack -- but they don't want to use the words 'condemning' or 'attack,' ' said one of the diplomats. 'We have to find ways to condemn without 'condemning.' ' China also insists on calling the incident a 'sinking,' the diplomat added.

The apparent impasse comes after U.S. President Barack Obama called for the Security Council to send a 'crystal clear' message.

Speaking after the summit of Group of 20 countries in Toronto last month, Mr. Obama said he had had a 'blunt' discussion with Chinese President Hu Jintao about the incident. G-8 leaders issued a statement 'deploring' the 'attack.'

'I am sympathetic to the fact that North Korea is on China's border,' Mr. Obama told a post-summit news conference. 'So when they adopt a posture of restraint, I understand their thinking. But I think there's a difference between restraint and willful blindness to consistent problems.'

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang immediately rejected Mr. Obama's remarks, saying Beijing didn't want to 'pour gasoline on the flames.' He said, 'China is a neighbor of the Korean Peninsula, and on this issue our feelings differ from a country that lies 8,000 kilometers distant,' referring to the U.S.

On Wednesday, a U.S. diplomat said Security Council negotiations continue.

China is North Korea's largest trading partner and one of its few allies. The West has relied on Beijing to put pressure on Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons program. China has voted in favor of Security Council sanctions against the North for the launch of a ballistic missile and for a nuclear weapons test.

South Korea said in a report released May 20 that the incident was a deliberate attack by Pyongyang. The investigating panel had representatives from South Korea, the U.K., Australia, Canada and the U.S.

For more than a month after the report's release, China urged restraint and said it would conduct its own assessment of the evidence. Diplomats from South Korea, Japan and the U.S. lobbied Chinese counterparts and were hopeful that China's position could eventually soften. In late June, South Korean media reported that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, in a summit meeting with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in Seoul, said Beijing 'will not protect anyone.'

South Korea's position is complicated by the fact that China is its largest trading partner.

Russia has conducted its own investigation into the incident and its results are due any day.

了解联合国安理会谈判的外交官说，中国正在阻止安理会因3月韩国战舰沉船事件而谴责朝鲜的行动。

两名西方外交官表示，北京拒绝指责朝鲜应为导致46名韩国水手死亡的天安号巡洋舰沉船事件负责，并不愿把这一事件定义为是一次“袭击”。

未联系到中国代表发表评论。

今年5月，国际调查小组断定天安号是在韩国水域被朝鲜鱼雷炸沉，但平壤方面否认了这一指控。上述外交官说，安理会已经进行了数周的努力以期达成就此事做出回应的协议。

韩国并未要求就此事制裁朝鲜。它最初要求安理会通过决议谴责此次袭击。上述外交官说，它还想让朝鲜就此事做出道歉和补偿。

中国拒绝由安理会形成决议，更倾向于做出正式声明。正式声明与决议不同，它仅需安理会成员的一致同意，无需进行投票表决，而且比决议的份量更轻。

其中一名外交官说，中国仅允许对此次袭击表示谴责，但又不想使用“谴责”或“袭击”这两个词。我们不得不想出不用“谴责”这个字眼来表示谴责的办法。中国还坚持称此次事件为“沉船事件”。

美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)要求安理会传递一个“清晰明确”的信息。在此之后，此事显然陷入僵局。

在上个月20国集团多伦多峰会之后，奥巴马说他与中国国家主席胡锦涛就此事进行了直言不讳的讨论。八国集团领导人发表声明此次“袭击”表示“深切悲痛”。

奥巴马在峰会后的新闻发布会上说，朝鲜与中国接壤，我对这一事实表示同情。因此当他们采取克制的姿态时，我理解他们的想法。但我认为采取克制态度与对于一直出现的问题有意视而不见是不一样的。

中国外交部发言人秦刚立即反驳了奥巴马的言论，说中国不想火上浇油。他说，中国是朝鲜半岛的近邻，在事关半岛和平稳定的问题上，我们和远在十万八千里外的国家的感受是不一样的。他暗指美国。

周三，美国外交官说安理会的谈判仍在继续。

中国是朝鲜最大的贸易伙伴，也是后者为数不多的盟友之一。西方国家一直有赖于北京政府就朝鲜核武器计划向平壤方面施压。因朝鲜发射弹道导弹及进行核武器试验等事，中国曾投票支持安理会对朝鲜进行制裁。

韩国在5月20日公布的报告中说这一事件是平壤方面的蓄意攻击。调查小组的代表来自韩国、英国、澳大利亚、加拿大和美国。

报告发表一个多月以来，中国敦促各方克制并说将自行评估这些证据。韩国、日本和美国的外交官曾游说中国同僚并希望中国能够最终软化自己的立场。6月末，韩国媒体报道称，中国总理温家宝在首尔与韩国总统李明博会面时说，中国不会偏袒任何一方。

由于中国是韩国最大的贸易伙伴，韩国的立场变得复杂。

俄罗斯也已对这一事件进行了调查，且随时会宣布结论。