Beijing has always believed that Syria’s future must be decided by the Syrians only: Chinese envoy

BEIJING, (ST)- China’s Special envoy for the Middle East Affairs Zhai Jun has reaffirmed the need to protect and respect Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, pointing out that political solution is the only way out of the crisis in the country.

In a press conference held by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Saturday, Jun said that Beijing has always believed that “Syria’s future must be decided by the Syrian people”. He added that “Syria has recently undergone some major changes, most important of which is the growing momentum for finding a political solution, but still terrorist organizations haven’t been eliminated completely yet”.

 The Chinese diplomat expressed China’s readiness to contribute to reaching a political solution in Syria as soon as possible.

On the situation in the Gulf region, the Chinese envoy said that the current tension in the Gulf region is mainly caused by the US unilateral withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal and the US maximum pressure on Tehran.

In another development, the Chinese Foreign Ministry rejected the accusations made by US State Secretary Mike Pompeo against Beijing in which he tried to defame the Chinese political system and promote what he called “Chinese threats”.

The ministry spokesman Geng Shuang stressed that these US anti-China remarks reflect the Cold War mentality.

He reiterated that the Chinese diplomacy has decisively defended China’s national sovereignty, security and interests and it has actively served the reform process and continued to support the issue of peace and development in the world.

Hamda Mustafa