Beijing, long Pyongyang's most important ally, abstained from the vote instead of joining Russia in the veto.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian explained the abstention on Friday, saying “a political solution is the only way out.”
“The current situation on the (Korean) peninsula remains tense and blindly imposing sanctions cannot solve the problem,” he said.
China has supported easing sanctions on the North, and ahead of the vote, had supported Russian proposals to impose so-called sunset clauses on them and reduce the frequency of panel reports.
But “to Beijing's dismay, the panel's demise could actually lead to increased trilateral cooperation between Washington, Seoul and Tokyo” as the allies seek to counter Pyongyang, said Professor Leif-Eric Easley of Ewha University in Seoul.
Additionally, “further evidence of sanctions violations could be released to the public as headline-making reports on Russia's and China's sanctions influence run up with the UN panel.”
