Liu Jieyi (C, front), China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, addresses a Security Council emergency session on the situation in Syria at the UN headquarters in New York, on April 7, 2017 [Xinhua]At an emergency session of the UN Security Council in New York on Friday, China has criticised the US cruise missile strikes on Syria.
Liu Jieyi, China’s permanent representative to the UN, said military actions will only worsen the suffering of the Syrian people and make the situation in Syria and the region more complicated and turbulent.
“This is not in the common interest of Syria, regional countries and the international community,” Liu said.
“The most urgent issue at present is that all parties work together to prevent the situation in Syria from further deterioration,” he said.
US warships in the Mediterranean Sea launched dozens of Tomahawk missiles at the Shayrat air base in Syria on Thursday. Washington says the attack was a retaliation for a chemical attack allegedly carried out by the Syrian government. Bashar Al-Assad’s government denies the charges.
On Friday, Chinese envoy Liu said China calls upon all relevant parties to persist in diplomatic efforts, stick to dialogue and consultation and support the role of the United Nations as the main channel of mediation and good offices.
He also asked the international community to support the efforts of UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura to maintain the hard-won momentum for the political solution to the Syrian issue.
China’s ally Russia has said the US actions were an “aggression” against Syrian sovereignty.
“We strongly condemn the illegitimate actions by the U.S. The consequences of this for regional and international stability could be extremely serious,” Russia’s deputy UN envoy, Vladimir Safronkov, told the meeting of the Un Security Council on Friday.
TBP and Agencies
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