Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
United Nations, SANA- China has renewed the call for immediately lifting the Western unilateral coercive measures imposed on Syria.
Xinhua quoted Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, as saying during a voting session on Security Council’s draft resolution on renewing the mechanism of cross-border aid deliveries in Syria: “As long as unilateral coercive measures are not lifted, there will be no fundamental improvement in the humanitarian situation in Syria … There is a country that claims to be concerned about the suffering of Syrian civilians, but it imposes additional coercive measures unilaterally on Syria and limits the livelihood of the Syrian people.”
He added: “China calls once again on the Security Council to address this critical issue and urges the countries concerned to lift unilateral coercive measures imposed on Syria immediately … We also request a comprehensive assessment by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on the impact of unilateral coercive measures on the general humanitarian situation in Syria to submit it by the Secretary-General to the Security Council in the form of a focused report.”
Zhang noted that these coercive measures have aggravated the crisis in Syria on the economic and humanitarian levels and they have brought indescribable suffering to the innocent civilians, in addition to severely undermining the ability of this country to tackle the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, adding that the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen have repeatedly urged the states concerned to lift these coercive measures.
Zhang stressed that “improving the humanitarian situation in the country is primarily the responsibility of the Syrian government, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria must be respected.”
He added that China encourages the parties concerned to intensify their efforts to enhance aid delivery and make corresponding adjustments to the cross-border aid delivery mechanism in light of the humanitarian needs in Syria, indicating that at the same time, these operations must strictly follow the guidelines for emergency humanitarian assistance, ensure integrity, impartiality, and credibility, and enhance coordination with the Syrian government.
“The political, security and humanitarian aspects and the fight against terrorism should be comprehensively considered … and the differences between the parties concerned on humanitarian issues in Syria must be resolved by pushing the political process in Syria,” Zhang said.
He pointed out that China has provided a wide range of aid to Syria through bilateral and multilateral channels, including the fields of food, medicine, education, and public services, and it has helped the Syrian government and the Syrian people in the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier on Tuesday, Russia and China vetoed a draft submitted by Belgium and Germany that exploits the humanitarian situations in Syria and violates its sovereignty as it would have extended authorization for cross-border humanitarian aid in Syria for one year without the approval of its government.
It is noteworthy that the UN Security Council adopted resolution no. 2165, which authorized humanitarian convoys heading to Syria to cross the borders, and its validity is extended every year, and this mechanism is still in place since July 2014.
Ruaa al-Jazaeri
