Keep Syria process on track, China says

The top priority after a US missile strike on a Syrian air base is to prevent further deterioration of the situation and thus maintain the "hard won" political process to settle the Syrian issue, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday.

At dawn on Friday, the United States struck a Syrian air base in the central province of Homs with dozens of Tomahawk missiles, saying the strike was in retaliation for the chemical attack on a rebel held town in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib.

China's stance on chemical weapons is consistent, and it has condemned the recent chemical weapons attack in Syria, Hua told a daily news conference in Beijing on Friday.

"We are opposed to the use of chemical weapons by any countries, organizations or individuals under any circumstances, for any purposes," Hua said.

She said China supports the United Nations conducting an"independent and comprehensive investigation into all cases of the use or suspected use of chemical weapons" and coming to conclusions based on solid evidence that can"stand the test of history and facts".

The US missile strike nearly destroyed the Shayrat Air Base in Homs, killing six Syrian soldiers and destroying nine Syrian war planes.

Homs Governor Talal Barazi said rescue operations had begun at the facility.

According to Barazi, the air base provided key support to the Syrian Army in the war against the Islamic State group. The governor said the air base played a significant role in liberating the ancient city of Palmyra from the IS.

The US said the attack was in retaliation for strikes that it alleges were carried out by the Syrian Air Force on the rebel held town in north western Syria on Tuesday, killing over 70 people and wounding scores, most of them civilians. Damascus denied the allegation.

Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva Alessandra Vellucci said on Friday that the UN Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, is closely "following the situation, including through consultations with relevant interlocutors".

Syrian Information Minister Ramez Turjman said the Syrian leadership was consulting with Russia and Iran on the response to the US "aggression".

CHINA DAILY—XINHUA