The great absurdity of the U.N., the veto power given to the five permanent members of the Security Council, was again exposed when China and Russia used it against a resolution to stop a bloodbath in Syria. The joint action by the two early Cold War allies turned the clock of history back several decades.

The draft resolution proposed by the Arab League had been considerably toned down to elicit support from the two countries. It called for the formation of a coalition government in Damascus, a peaceful change of power and an end to violent suppression of protests. An immediate exit of President Bashar Assad and a ban on the supply of arms to Syria were deleted from the original draft.

But the Russian and Chinese delegates vetoed the resolution on the grounds that it lacked a clause on prohibition of armed intervention by foreign powers and represented the unilateral position of the United States and Western Europe. Russia has at least a historical background in opposing any U.N. call for a regime change, as Damascus has been a close ally of Moscow since the days of Hafez Assad, father of Bashar Assad. But we are deeply disappointed at Beijing’s repeated vetoes against the Syrian resolutions.

China is afraid of any ripple effect of the Arab spring on its own territory, where rising calls for democratic reform and the independence movements in the Tibet and Xinjiang-Uighur regions threaten its stability.

By turning down the pro-democracy resolution proposed by Syria’s neighbors, China is denying the universal values pursued by the international community in the 21st century and condoning state violence that has killed over 5,000 protesters since last spring. The Chinese leadership is virtually identifying itself with the killer regime in Damascus.

The Chinese action in the U.N. is rather consistent with its unwavering support of the North Korean regime through the dynastic power succession from Kim Il-sung to Kim Jong-il and now to Kim Jong-un and their repressive rule. But time has come for the Beijing leaders to wake up to their anachronism and accept what the global society has established as the common norms.

Both China and Russia are at a crossroads to engage in constructive economic and political partnerships with the rest of the world or take steps back to the old confrontational order.