China rejects sanctions, pressure to solve Syria crisis
Image by: HANDOUT / REUTERS
China's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it does not approve of excessive reliance on pressure or sanctions to address the crisis in Syria and reiterated its support for U.N. envoy Kofi Annan's mediation efforts.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin made the comments at a regular briefing.
France will propose giving the United Nations the power to enforce Annan's Syrian peace plan, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Wednesday, adding that a no-fly zone was an option under consideration to stem what it characterised as a civil war.
Liu did not reject the French proposal outright but signalled misgivings.
Russia and China - permanent members of the U.N. Security Council with the power to veto resolutions - have stymied efforts by Western powers to condemn or call for the removal of Assad, whose forces, the U.N. says, have killed at least 10,000 people in more than a year of unrest.
China has repeatedly called for all sides in Syria to end violence and observe a peace plan put forward by Annan, and has opposed any foreign intervention in the country or efforts at forced regime change.
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