The PRC continues to "strongly oppose" a UN Security Council Resolution on Burma and though ready for a "political confrontation" with the United States in order to block a resolution, prefers to work with Washington to find "more effective" ways to communicate dissatisfaction to the Burmese regime, according to MFA International Organizations Department UN Affairs Division Director Yang Tao. Yang told Poloff December 27 that Beijing was surprised that the United States backed off from pushing for an early vote on a Burma resolution so quickly and with so little warning, adding that the PRC was also surprised that the United States had not suggested the possibility of a Presidential Statement (PRST). Arguing that, as a neighbor, China has a much greater interest than in Burma than does the United States, Yang repeated his previous statement that Beijing will not accept any linkage of a possible UNSC veto of a Burma resolution to overall U.S.-China relations.