Growing US-China rivalry seen fueling UN paralysis amid virus crisis

UNITED NATIONS: For nearly a decade, the UN Security Council has been frequently paralysed by Russia's obstinacy over the Syrian crisis. Today, however, it is the US-China rivalry that has infected a growing array of issues, according to officials and diplomats.

As recently as 2017, an understanding between Washington and Beijing allowed the United Nations on three occasions -- involving separate sets of economic sanctions -- to project international unity in the face of the North Korean nuclear threat.