UN denounces US over move to Jerusalem

The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on Thursday denouncing US President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

A total of 128 countries backed the nonbinding resolution calling for the US to rescind its Dec 6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, nine voted against and 35 abstained. The motion was drafted by Turkey and Yemen.

Those voting in favor included the other four permanent members of the UN Security Council: China, France, Russia and the UK.

The nine who voted against the resolution were the US, Israel, Guatemala, Honduras, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Togo. Canada and Mexico were among the 35 abstaining.

Trump warned on Wednesday that he might cut financial aid to countries who voted in favor of the resolution.

Prior to the vote, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley echoed Trump's threat to withhold financial aid. She said the US will remember this day, in which it was "singled out for attack".

"We will remember it when we are called upon once again to make the world's largest contribution to the United Nations." she said.

The resolution "demanded" that all states comply with Security Council resolutions regarding the status of Jerusalem and not recognize any actions or measures contrary to those resolutions.

The 193-member Assembly stressed that Jerusalem "is a final status issue to be resolved through negotiations in line with relevant UN resolutions." It also called on all countries to refrain from moving their embassies to Jerusalem, pursuant to Security Council resolution 478 adopted in 1980.

The emergency special session was called after the Security Council failed to adopt a draft resolution on the status of Jerusalem with a veto from the US on Monday. The other 14 members voted in favor.

The Assembly reiterated its call for the reversal of the negative trends that endanger the two-state solution.

Israel rejected the UN resolution. The Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that Israel is "pleased by the high number of countries that have not voted in favor of the resolution."

China said a two-state solution was the right way to politically settle the Jerusalem question and called for the international community to work together to defuse tensions in the area.

In a speech during the session, Shen Bo, minister-counselor of China's permanent mission to the UN, cited the proposal made by President Xi Jinping in July on the settlement of the Palestinian question.

It includes firm advancement of a political settlement based on a two-state solution and call for an early resumption of peace talks to expedite a political settlement to the question of Palestine, and thereby fundamentally achieve common and lasting security.

wanglinyan@chinadailyusa.com