China Appoints Xie Xiaoyan as Special Envoy for Syria

BEIJING, (ST)- China has announced the appointment of a special envoy for Syria aiming to contribute to enhancing the intra-Syrian dialogue to solve the crisis in the country.

The new special envoy for Syria is Xie Xiaoyan, a diplomat who served as ambassador to Iran and was most recently China’s ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a news briefing on Tuesday.

 Xie, 62, is a deeply experienced diplomat very familiar with the Middle East, Hong said.  

“We believe he will certainly fulfill this mission well,” he added.

 ” As a permanent Security Council member China can keep playing a constructive role in seeking suitable political settlement to the crisis in Syria,” Hong said, noting that China has played a positive role in this respect, put forward ideas for a solution and provided humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people.

China supports the mediation efforts of the U.N. Syria special envoy Staffan de Mistura, Hong  said, stressing that political settlement in Syria was the only way out of the crisis.

According to Hong, the political settlement process in Syria has reached a sensitive point particularly after the implementation of the “cessation of hostilities” agreement, the continuous delivery of humanitarian aid and the resumption of the intra-Syrian dialogue between the government and the opposition.

Hamda Mustafa