US-China Tensions Negatively Impact Cooperation At UN Security Council - Spokesman

UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2020) The growing tension in the US-China relationship hinders cooperation among the countries at the UN Security Council, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a press briefing on Thursday.

"It is clear that the dysfunctional state of the relations between the big powers has a negative impact on the ability for them to come together when they sit around the table in the Security Council and other UN legislative bodies," Dujarric said when asked to provide the world's body reaction on the deterioration of relations between Washington and Beijing.

Dujarric also said that in the time of pandemic, it is critical that all UN member states cooperate, along� with the effort led by the World Health Organization, on the COVID-19 vaccine.

US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he had signed legislation and an Executive Order punishing China for the encroachment on Hong Kong autonomy. He told reporters that he signed into law the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, which had passed unanimously through Congress, and gave him tools to hold those accountable who suppress freedom. The Executive Order signed by the president ends US preferential treatment for Hong Kong and will ensure it is treated the same as mainland China.

The relationship between the United States and China has grown tense over China's and the WHO's responses to the coronavirus.

Trump has claimed that China's influence in the WHO allowed the novel coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan to morph into a global pandemic, when the disease should have been contained within China. Both China and the WHO dismissed the claims.