China urges to enhance UN's role at NAM summit

TEHRAN - With ever more challenging global issues, the international community should enhance the role of the United Nations (UN), promote cooperation and pay special attention to developing countries' concerns so as to achieve better global governance, China's Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu said here on Friday.

The Chinese official made the remarks in his speech at the 16th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit held in Iran's capital of Tehran.

The world is undergoing dramatic changes, Ma noted, adding that the international community wants peace, not war; wants cooperation, not conflict; and wants progress, not retrogression.

Over years, the NAM has always been improving itself and has always been an important force representing developing countries to promote peace and development in the world, Ma said.

Ma said the international community should stand by the UN Charter and other international laws when dealing with the Syrian crisis, in order to help promote political dialogue and bridge divisions in the unrest-torn country. China condemns all kinds of terrorism and any violence against innocent civilians, he added.

China welcomed the decision of appointing Lakhdar Brahimi as the new UN-Arab League (AL) joint special representative for Syria, calling on all sides in Syria to immediately halt violence and carry out UN security council resolutions as well as the six-point peace plan put forward by former UN-AL joint special envoy to Syria Kofi Annan, according to Ma.

As for the Palestinian issue, Ma said that China supports the Palestinians' striving for their rights, and hopes that the Palestinians and Israel could peacefully coexist with each other and solve disputes through political and diplomatic ways.

NAM currently consists of 120 members, 17 observer countries and 10 observer organizations. China became a NAM observer in September 1992.