China condemns any use of chemical weapons

UNITED NATIONS - China on Monday firmly condemned any use of chemical weapons, calling on the international community to beef up their efforts for a political solution to the Syria crisis.

Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, welcomed the framework agreed by Russia and the United States to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons, and appreciated the work of the UN fact-finding group looking into the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria on August 21.

Pledging to view the report in-depth, the envoy noted that the diplomatic efforts of all concerned parties relieved Syria from a hair-trigger situation.

"China firmly opposes and strongly condemns any use of chemical weapons," he said, urging relevant parties to immediately stop the violence and bloodshed in Syria.

"We welcome the accession of Syria to the Chemical Weapons Convention," said the envoy.

Hailing the political solution as the only way out of the Syria crisis, the Chinese ambassador urged the international community to pave the way for the destruction of the chemical weapons, and the second Geneva meeting.

China is willing to enhance communication and coordination with all relevant parties and make unremitting efforts in this regard, he added.

Liu's remark came after a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council early Monday, during which UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon briefed the council about the report from the fact-finding group.

The report confirmed that chemical weapons were used in Ghouta, Syria, without assigning blame.