DAMASCUS – China on Wednesday restated its opposition to military intervention in Syria, as Russia sought to halt fresh UN Security Council action after a massacre of civilians sparked global fury.
The renewed support by Moscow and Beijing for the Damascus regime came as numerous Western nations, including the United States, Britain and France, expelled Syrian diplomats in the wake of Friday’s massacre and after France floated the idea of armed intervention to protect civilians.
“China opposes military intervention in Syria and opposes regime change by force,” foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told reporters in Beijing.
Liu added that China urged all parties to implement UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s ceasefire proposal in Syria and to seek to end the bloody crisis through negotiations.
With Russian and Chinese support, the UN Security Council on Sunday strongly condemned the Syrian government for using artillery in a massacre in the central town of Houla in which at least 108 people were killed.
But Russia, which along with China has vetoed two UN Security Council resolutions highly critical of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, on Wednesday said it was “premature” for the council to consider new action.
“We believe that a review now by the Security Council of any new measures on the situation would be premature,” Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told the Interfax news agency in comments that appeared to dash Washington’s hopes of a change of heart in Moscow.
The US State Department had said on Tuesday it hoped the Houla tragedy would spark a “turning point” in Russia’s reluctance to take tougher action against its Soviet-era ally.
Annan, during a meeting with Assad in Damascus on Tuesday, urged the Syrian leader to act immediately to end 15 months of bloodshed which has claimed thousands of lives, warning that the country had reached a “tipping point.”
French President Francois Hollande had said on Tuesday that he did not rule out military intervention, provided it were approved by the UN Security Council.
