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Christoph Heusgen is the German UN ambassador
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Luiz Rampelotto / dpa
At the end of two years of membership in the UN Security Council, there was again a violent dispute between Germany and China and Russia.
The German ambassador Christoph Heusgen used a session on Iran in his closing remarks to call on China to release two detained Canadians.
“This council will lose its legitimacy if it stops worrying about the fate of individuals,” Heusgen said at the virtual meeting in New York.
"We have always called things by their names," he said, describing Germany's behavior over the past two years, noting that Russia and China had made no secret of their dislike.
The Security Council can only work successfully with one another if it is open and impartial.
China's ambassador Yao Shaojun complained after Heusgen's contribution about its "malicious" content.
The German had hijacked the meeting that was actually convened for Iran's nuclear program.
China is certain that the Security Council will work better without Germany.
The diplomat Yao Shaojun said to Heusgen: "It's good that we are rid of you."
Heusgen was referring to the cases of former diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor.
You have been detained in China for two years, which is affecting relations between Canada and China.
They are accused of espionage.
Shortly before the arrest of the two, Canada had arrested the Chinese tech manager Meng Wanzhou at the request of the USA.
The finance chairman of the Huawei corporation was charged in February 2020 in the United States with the disclosure of trade secrets.
Russia calls Navalny allegations "nonsense"
Heusgen also referred to the SPIEGEL reports on the alleged poisoning of the Kremlin critic Alexej Navalny by the Russian government.
Russia's Deputy Ambassador Dmitri Polyansky called the allegations "nonsense" and said: "I hope that Christoph's symptoms will improve after January 1st."
Last week Russia and China clashed with Germany at a meeting on the war in Syria.
Heusgen had described their complaints about a blockade of aid deliveries to Syria as "very cynical," after all, in July both countries prevented such deliveries for hundreds of thousands.
Polyansky had accused Germany and other countries of the West of "immoral behavior".
Heusgen was a "very cynical person," he had said at the end of the session on Wednesday.
The council consists of five permanent members with veto power, including China and Russia, and ten non-permanent members who have a seat for two years.
Germany's term of office lasts until the end of 2020, but Tuesday was the last regular meeting of the year.
Before joining the United Nations, Heusgen was foreign and security policy advisor to Chancellor Angela Merkel for twelve years.
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