Hypocritical chutzpah by British Ambassador to the UN over nuclear weapons

On the eve of last Thursday’s catastrophic General Election result, Ambassador Karen Pierce, UK Permanent Representative to the UN, made an extraordinary speech to a  Security Council briefing on North Korea (DPRK): it was a model of gross hypocrisy - a speciality of British diplomacy. (“UK urges North Korea to begin process of irreversible denuclearisation,” 11 December 2019;  https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/uk-urges-north-korea-to-begin-process-of-irreversible-denuclearisation). Understandably, it received no  media coverage.

Ambassador Pierce began by asserting “International peace and security is under threat, owing to the unabated development of ballistic missile and nuclear weapons technology by North Korea. Despite concerted and good faith efforts by the US to negotiate a solution, this year has seen 13 sets of illegal ballistic missile tests.”

At the very same time the UK is embarked in renewing the Trident nuclear WMD system, at a total lifetime cost of £205,000,000,000 (£205bn) to British taxpayers. (The Cost of the UK’s strategic nuclear deterrent,” House of Commons Library briefing; https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-8166)

The good Ambassador then went on:  “We gather today also to send a message to Pyongyang: it is not too late. You can prevent the situation worsening. You should seize this diplomatic opportunity that has already been repeated in the Council this session. The united expressed will of the Security Council is that North Korea should begin a process of complete, verifiable and irreversible de-nuclearisation. The UK will continue to work with international partners to support this goal.”

The UK is not only a signatory, but is also a depositary state ( which includes the responsibility to protect and further the stated aims of the treaty) and a drafting nation for the 1968 Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Article 6 of this treaty reads in part:

“Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective

measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear

disarmament … under strict and effective international control.”

Not one nuclear weapon nor a single nuclear warhead has been disarmed or dismantled  by the UK  following multilateral or bilateral negotiations  in the  51 years since the UK signed the treaty. ‘Do as we say, not as we do’ is the clear message from British diplomacy.

Ambassador Pierce then rises to her task, saying: “it bears repeating what is at stake. As the China Permanent Representative said, this is truly and quintessentially a matter for the Security Council and only the Security Council of international bodies can really deal with such a challenge deriving from weapons of mass destruction and proliferation. It’s a vital issue.”

So if other nations develop or deploy nuclear WMDs, they are deemed to be dangerous and proliferation. But, if a nation – such as the UK- already self-declared as a nuclear weapons state for over 70 years spends over £200bn on upgrading the range, explosive capacity, lethality and targeting accuracy of its own nuclear WMD system, that is legitimate renewal of its purely defensive national security protection system

Ambassador Pierce then has the hypocritical hutspa (Chutzpah) to pray-in-aid of the NPT – held in such clear contempt by successive British Governments for fifty years-  arguing “ There are further implications in possessions of such weapons. It’s in no member state’s interest to see North Korean technology and expertise proliferate across borders. As next year we face the anniversary of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, it becomes a very important moment to resolve this issue.”

The Ambassador may be aware that North Korea is not an NPT member state: it withdrew, as it was legitimately allowed to do, on 10 January 2003 (https://www.asil.org/insights/volume/8/issue/2/north-koreas-withdrawal-nuclear-nonproliferation-treaty)

North Korea has no obligation to follow the articles of the NPT; the UK, on the other hand, does: but successive UK Governments have brazenly declined to do so, to significant diplomatic opprobrium from the international community

The Ambassador ended her highly politicised peroration with yet more hypocrisy, asserting: “We urge North Korea to change course, to engage in meaningful negotiations with the United States and to begin a process of complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation.”

When will the UK  join such negotiations to achieve the very same aim of “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation”?

 

 

 

UK urges North Korea to begin process of irreversible denuclearisation

Statement by Ambassador Karen Pierce, UK Permanent Representative to the UN, at the Security Council briefing on DPRK

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/uk-urges-north-korea-to-begin-process-of-irreversible-denuclearisation

 

Published 11 December 2019

From:

Foreign & Commonwealth Office and Karen Pierce DCMG

Delivered on:

11 December 2019 (Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered)

Thank you, Madam President.

Madam President, we gather today in the name of prevention. International peace and security is under threat, owing to the unabated development of ballistic missile and nuclear weapons technology by North Korea. Despite concerted and good faith efforts by the US to negotiate a solution, this year has seen 13 sets of illegal ballistic missile tests.

We gather today also to send a message to Pyongyang: it is not too late. You can prevent the situation worsening. You should seize this diplomatic opportunity that has already been repeated in the Council this session. The united expressed will of the Security Council is that North Korea should begin a process of complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation. The UK will continue to work with international partners to support this goal.

Madam President, it bears repeating what is at stake. As the China Permanent Representative said, this is truly and quintessentially a matter for the Security Council and only the Security Council of international bodies can really deal with such a challenge deriving from weapons of mass destruction and proliferation. It’s a vital issue. It is hard to discern, Madam President, what lies behind the provocative and dangerous moves by North Korea.

Since May 2019, they have tested three different types of short range ballistic missiles, and these tests have demonstrated substantial progress for this illegal and reckless weapons programme. As other representatives have said, each test is a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. And the Council needs to support the rigorous enforcement of its sanctions in the face of such violations. And I just wanted at this point to endorse what the French representative said about the humanitarian angle with which we agree wholeheartedly. The sanctions regime imposed by the Council will remain in place until North Korea takes concrete steps towards denuclearisation. Further breaches of Security Council resolutions, whether they’re ballistic missile launches, space launch vehicles or nuclear tests, will only harden the resolve of the Council.

There are further implications in possessions of such weapons. It’s in no member state’s interest to see North Korean technology and expertise proliferate across borders. As next year we face the anniversary of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, it becomes a very important moment to resolve this issue.

Madam President, we should not forget the suffering of the North Korean people. The human rights situation in North Korea is disturbing. They are the worst offender on the Global Slavery Index, and 179th out of 180 in the Reporters without Borders World Press Freedom Index. Human rights has a critical role to play, and we urge North Korea to concentrate on improving the lives of its most vulnerable people.

Madam President, all states have an obligation to enforce this council’s sanctions. We urge action to address the continued reports of fuel shipments to North Korea in violation of the mandated annual imports cap. And we urge vigilance against North Korea’s illegal fundraising activity, including its use of cyber attacks. And we remind states, if I may, Madam President, that all North Korean overseas workers earning income should be repatriated by 22 December this year.

Madam President, our message as a Council must be united and it is clear. Continued development of programmes in violation of Security Council resolutions will not be tolerated. We urge North Korea to change course, to engage in meaningful negotiations with the United States and to begin a process of complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation.

Thank you.