China calls for immediate lifting of unilateral coercive measures against Syria: envoy

UNITED NATIONS - A Chinese envoy on Monday called for complete and immediate lifting of unilateral coercive measures against Syria, noting that the sanctions will harm the vulnerable country's efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We call for complete and immediate lifting of unilateral coercive measures," Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, also president of the Security Council for the month of March, told the council's video-teleconferencing meeting on the situation in Syria.

"We are seriously concerned about the negative impact of unilateral sanctions on countries' capacity to respond to the pandemic, especially for vulnerable countries like Syria," he said. "Civilians and innocent people are suffering severely from those sanctions."

Zhang said that China supports the call of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in this regard.

"Our position is explained in detail in the recent joint letter to the secretary-general, together with Russia, among others. We hope the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs joins the voice of the secretary-general and high commissioner for human rights in this regard," said Zhang.

Speaking about the situation in Syria, Zhang said that ever since Russia and Turkey agreed on a ceasefire arrangement early this month, the security situation in northwest Syria has significantly improved.

"We appreciate their diplomatic efforts and encourage relevant parties to continue implementing the ceasefire," he said.

"It is our consistent position to support the political solution to the conflict in Syria. We appreciate the painstaking efforts of the special envoy (Geir Pedersen) and encourage him to continue facilitating dialogue between the Syrian parties, toward an inclusive Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process in line with Resolution 2254," said Zhang.

"We reiterate the future of the country must be decided by the Syrian people, without foreign interference," he said.

On the humanitarian issue in Syria, Zhang said that China pays close attention to the humanitarian needs of the civilians in Syria. "The humanitarian issue in Syria is very complicated, and must be managed in an integrated and impartial way."

"We are pleased to learn the positive developments in cross-line humanitarian assistance, and call for enhanced coordination and cooperation between the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Syrian government, so as to find a lasting and sustaining solution," he said.

"With regard to the cross-border arrangement of humanitarian assistance, China's position remains unchanged. We have been playing a constructive role. China did not block anything. Full respect must be given to sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria," said the envoy.

As for the impact of COVID-19, Zhang said that "the potential impact of COVID-19 on Syria is of growing concern, even though the current number of confirmed cases in Syria is comparatively limited."

"We note that the Syrian government has taken a series of precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus. The World Health Organization is actively engaged. We appreciate the efforts," the envoy noted.

"The Chinese government has already provided a batch of testing kits for Syria. We're willing to continue to provide assistance within our capacity to Syria. We call on other countries to also do the same," the ambassador said.