China supports UN on Syrian consensus

BEIJING - China wants the United Nations Security Council to reach consensus on a draft resolution on Syria's chemical weapons at an early date, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Thursday.

"China supports the Security Council to reach consensus as soon as possible so that the work of inspecting and destructing chemical weapons in Syria can start at an early date, and to send a clear signal of backing political solution to the Syria issue," Hong said at a daily news briefing.

The UN Security Council is working on a draft resolution on Syria's chemical weapons, but disagreement remains on whether the resolution should be under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which includes possible military intervention, media reports said.

China has always participated in the consultations in an active and constructive manner and is willing to keep in touch with various parties to push for an early consensus, Hong said.