China opposes armed intervention in Syria

UNITED NATIONS - China on Thursday voiced its firm opposition to "outside armed intervention" in Syria or "any attempt to forcibly promote regime change" in the Middle East country.

Li Baodong, the Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, made the statement while speaking at a UN General Assembly session on the current situation in Syria. The General Assembly met to hear a briefing by Kofi Annan, the UN-Arab League joint special envoy for Syria.

China's ambassador to the United Nations Li Baodong speaks with the media after Security Council consultations at UN headquarters in New York June 7, 2012.?[Photo/Agencies]

"We resolutely oppose the solutions to the Syrian crisis through outside armed intervention or any attempt to forcibly promote regime change," Li said. "China stands ready to play its positive and constructive role in finding an early peaceful and proper solution to the Syrian question."

"China has taken a fair, just and responsible position on the issue of Syria," he said. "We steadfastly safeguard the basic norms governing international relations and strive to maintain peace and stability in the Middle East region. And with our specific actions, we have called for peace and promoted negotiations."

Li said that China has been following closely the developments in Syria. "The incident of El-Houla has once again shown that there should be no delay to achieve a comprehensive ceasefire and cessation of violence in Syria," he added.

At least 108 people were reportedly killed on May 25 in El-Houla in western Syria, prompting international condemnations of the killing of innocent civilians in the country.

"To maintain the momentum for a political solution to the Syrian question and to avoid the escalation of crisis, the parties concerned inside Syria should immediately implement the relevant Security Council resolutions and the six-point Annan plan," Li said.

The peace plan, widely backed by the international community and also officially accepted by the Syrian government, calls for the withdrawal of heavy weapons and troops from population centers, a daily halt in fighting for the delivery of humanitarian aid and treatment for the wounded, as well as talks between the government and the opposition.

The Chinese ambassador also called on all Syrian parties concerned to "actively accommodate the supervision and ceasefire mechanism and cease all violence, and effectively protect civilians and initiate full and comprehensive political dialogue in an effort to promote a fair, just, and peaceful solution to the Syria question."

"The parties concerned inside Syria must also fully support and coordinate with the UN Supervision Mission in Syria in its work," he added.