CHINA, RUSSIA OUTLINE THINKING ON ZIMBABWE, SUDAN,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000630

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/15/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV SO SU ZM
SUBJECT: CHINA, RUSSIA OUTLINE THINKING ON ZIMBABWE, SUDAN,
MIDDLE EAST

Classified By: Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad for Reasons 1.4 b/d.


1. (C) SUMMARY. Chinese PermRep Wang told P-5 counterparts
this morning that Beijing had instructed him to veto last
weekend's Security Council resolution on Zimbabwe after South
African President Mbeki called Chinese President Hu to
complain that the U.S. and UK were actively discouraging the
Zimbabwe opposition from engaging in negotiations with the
ruling ZANU-PF. Wang also reported that China has rebuffed
Zimbabwe President Mugabe's request that his foreign minister
visit Beijing. Ambassador Khalilzad told the Chinese and
Russian on Zimbabwe that "you broke it, and we are watching
to see how you are going to fix it." All agreed that the
Security Council could do little in the immediate aftermath
of the failed resolution and members would closely monitor
developments in the ground over the next week or two. The
group agreed that the Council should call for the Government
of Sudan (GOS) to exercise restraint in the aftermath of
International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor's application
for an arrest warrant against President Bashir. British
PermRep Sawers, however, insisted that any such call for
restraint be linked to a call for GOS cooperation with the
ICC, a condition China and Russia resisted as obviously
boxing Bashir in and carrying a risk of prompting South
Africa and others to come to his defense. China and Russia
hinted that they may eventually advocate a suspension of the
ICC case against Bashir pursuant to Treaty of Rome Article
16, but all agreed to monitor developments closely over the
next several days before launching next steps. The group
also agreed that the forthcoming UNAMID renewal resolution
should largely track UNSCR 1769 as a technical rollover and
avoid excessive benchmarking. On Somalia, there was broad
consensus that Italian and Turkish leadership was not
yielding results. On the Arab draft resolution condemning
Israeli settlements, the Chinese and Russians said they could
support the current Arab draft, but would prefer to work with
the U.S. on a comprehensive resolution on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Ambassador Khalilzad hosted the P-5 at a July 15
working breakfast. Guests in principals-only format were
Chinese PR Wang, Russian DPR Shcherbak, UK PR Sawers, and
French Political Coordinator de Riviere. Topics covered were
Zimbabwe, Sudan, Somalia, and the Arab draft resolution on
Israeli settlements.

Zimbabwe
--------------


3. (C) Ambassador Wang revealed that President Mbeki of South
Africa called President Hu before the July 12 Security
Council vote on the Zimbabwe resolution to explain that South
Africa would be taking its alternative resolution (calling
for sanctions should Zimbabwe's behavior not improve) off the
table in reaction to his conclusion that the UK and U.S. had
been actively discouraging the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) from negotiating with Mugabe's
ZANU-PF. In support of South Africa, Beijing then instructed
Wang to veto the U.S.-sponsored sanctions resolution.


4. (C) Wang and Russia's Shcherbak told the group that both
their capitals have approached Mugabe to impress on him the
need to negotiate with the opposition in good faith. Wang
said China had gone so far as to rebuff Mugabe's direct
request that Zimbabwe's foreign minister, Simbarashe
Mumbengegwi, be received officially in Beijing.


5. (C) Ambassador Khalilzad told the Russian and Chinese that
their veto of the resolution effectively meant they had
together broken and therefore bought the Zimbabwe situation
and that the U.S. and others would now be looking at how they
would fix it. All agreed that the Council could do little as
an institution in the short term except closely monitor
events on the ground.

Darfur
--------------


6. (C) Russia and China both urged the rest of the P-5 to
confine the resolution renewing UNAMID to technical matters
largely tracking resolution 1769, which created the hybrid
force for Darfur. They argued that the resolution should
avoid excessive benchmarking but agreed to retain language in
the UK-draft endorsing, for example, the UN's goal of 80
percent UNAMID deployment in calendar year 2008. The group
agreed that the resolution should call on the Government of
Sudan (GOS) to exercise restraint in the aftermath of the
recent International Criminal Court (ICC) filings against

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Sudan President Bashir. The Chinese and Russian resisted UK
PermRep Sawer's insistence that such a call for restraint be
linked to a call for GOS cooperation with the ICC, arguing
that Bashir would be boxed in by a call for cooperation with
his own indictment and that South Africa and others might
then feel compelled to come to his defense and thereby
exacerbate tensions. (NOTE. The UK draft resolution
renewing UNAMID does not expressly mention the ICC but
repeats language from UNSCR 1769 calling for "perpetrators of
crimes in Darfur" to be brought to justice. END NOTE.)


7. (C) Russia and China also hinted that they may yet come to
advocate a formal Security Council suspension of the ICC
process against Bashir pursuant to Treaty of Rome Article 16.
The group reached consensus, however, to monitor developments
closely for several days before deciding on next steps
colectively or individually.

Somalia
--------------


8. (C) There was broad P-5 consensus that new leadership may
be needed to make progress in Somalia, perhaps with
Indonesian or Arab state activity replacing Italian and
Turkish.

Middle East
--------------


9. (C) Separately, the Chinese and Russians said they could
support the current Arab draft resolution condemning Israeli
settlements, but would prefer to work with the U.S. on a
comprehensive resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
They generally welcomed the U.S. elements for a
comprehensive resolution circulated to the Security Council
and said they would have only a few changes to propose.
Khalilzad