Political resolution only way out for Syria-China
August 26, 2013, 1:22 pm

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi urged an early convening of the US-Russia backed Geneva 2 talks on Syria [Xinhua]

“China’s position is that no matter who uses chemical weapons, we firmly oppose such an action,” he said.

“China supports the U.N.’s secretariat to, in accordance with relevant U.N. resolutions, open an independent, objective, fair and professional investigation, to find out what really happened as soon as possible,” Wang added.

The Foreign Minister reasserted China’s position that a political solution was the only resolution.

“Political resolution is the only way out of the Syrian issue”, he said.

Chinese official comments came in amid US media reports quoting Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel as saying that President Barack Obama had told him to “prepare options for all contingencies”.

“All parties ought to cautiously handle the Syrian chemical weapons issue to avoid interfering in (efforts) to resolve the Syrian issue politically,” Wang said on Monday.

Wang also urged an early convening of a second Geneva conference on Syria.

The US-Russia backed Geneva 2 talks have been postponed indefinitely.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addressed an emergency press conference on Monday on the Syrian crisis.

“Using force in Syria without mandate of UN Security Council would be a serious violation of law,” said Lavrov.

“NATO statement they can go into Syria without UN sanctions is perilous route,” added the Russian Foreign Minister.

Russia had earlier warned the US not to repeat “past failures” when it considers its options in formulating policy on Syria.

Russia and China have earlier vetoed previous Western efforts to impose UN penalties on Assad.

Syrian opposition groups have claimed that 1,300 people were killed in chemical weapons attacks by government forces last week. The Syrian government has denied the allegation.

A UN investigation team went to the al-Ghouta region to the east of the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday to start its investigation on the ground.

The Syrian government has agreed to cooperate with the on-site investigation, including a cessation of hostilities at related locations.

Source: Agencies