China calls for de-escalation of Crimea crisis

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine - Official results showed on Monday that 96.6 percent of Crimeans voted to join Russia at Sunday's referendum.

Crimeans in Simferopol and Sevastopol were seen already waiting for celebrations of the referendum outcome.

Most, when asked, expressed their confidence that this third referendum in the history of the peninsula would direct them "home" to Russia.

Moscow on Saturday vetoed a United Nations (UN) Security Council draft resolution while China abstained. The resolution, drawn up by the United States and backed by Western countries, called on international organizations to ignore results of Sunday's voting in Crimea.

"China holds an objective and fair position on the Ukraine issue," Liu Jieyi, Chinese permanent representative to the UN, told the Security Council after the vote.

"The vote on the draft resolution by the Security Council at this juncture will only result in confrontation and further complicate the situation, which is not in conformity with the common interest of both the people of the Ukraine and those of the international community," said Liu.

The Crimea Peninsula, historically part of the Russian Federation, was transferred to Ukraine in May 1954, then a republic of the Soviet Union.

In 1992, the Crimean Supreme Council (parliament) declared independence in May pending a referendum which was called off by the Ukrainian authorities.

Crimea held two other referendums in 1991 and 1994, testing voters' preference for greater autonomy within Ukraine or uniting with Russia.

The same supreme council decided on March 6 to hold the peninsula's third referendum which was originally scheduled for March 30 after the Ukrainian authorities decided to annul Russian as the official language in the peninsula.

The Crimean Supreme Council passed a resolution of declaration of independence on March 11 to pave the way for Sunday's referendum.