China Favors Comprehensive Approach to Break Stalemate in Iraq QuestionChinese Permanent Representative to the United Nations Wang Yingfan said Tuesday that China favors a comprehensive approach for breaking the current stalemate in the Iraq question by taking into account all aspects of the question.In his speech at a formal meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Iraq Tuesday afternoon, Wang Yingfan said the present stalemate in the Iraq question is not in the interest of peace and security in the Gulf region. It is not conducive to the upholding of the authoritativeness of the Security Council and to a fundamental easing of the humanitarian situation in Iraq, he added. Wang said China hopes that discussions in the Security Council will help create conditions for breaking the deadlock so that the Iraq question, which has been under consideration at the Security Council for 11 years, will not become a perpetual item in its agenda. The Chinese ambassador put forth a three-point view on a comprehensive settlement of the Iraq question. Want Yingfan said the Chinese government maintains that a fundamental amelioration of the humanitarian situation in Iraq constitutes an important and indispensable step toward breaking the stalemate. The sanctions against Iraq that have lasted for 11 years have brought untold miseries and pains to civilians, with women and children in particular, in the country, and thus the international community has voiced a strong call for a fundamental amelioration of the humanitarian situation in Iraq, according to Wang Yingfan. During the review of the "new arrangements" at the Security Council on the sale and supply of goods and commodities to Iraq, Wang noted, China emphasized that Iraq should be allowed to import freely any civilian goods that it needs; that financial control and restrictions on Iraq should be relaxed; and that foreign companies should be allowed to invest in Iraq, countries allowed to freely sign service contracts with Iraq and flights of civil aviation of various countries to and from Iraq allowed to resume. Wang Yingfan said China has always stressed the need to clarify the ambiguities in Resolution 1284, particularly the need to clearly define the criteria for terminating sanctions against Iraq, so as to motivate it to resume its cooperation with the United Nations. This, Wang added, constitutes another important and indispensable step toward a break of the deadlock and a comprehensive solution of the Iraq question. At the same time, he said, China also believes that the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Iraq should be respected. Thus, countries concerned should demonstrate the required good will and sincerity by putting an early end to the bombing of Iraq and dismantling the "no-fly zone", so as to create conditions for an early solution to the Iraq question, he said. Wang also said China maintains that no "new arrangements" should bring further negative impact on the political, economic and social life of Iraq's neighbors. The Security Council should pay close attention to the views of Iraq's neighbors and seek their understanding and cooperation, he added. According to Wang Yingfan, the tabling of the draft resolution on "new arrangements" has caused serious concern among Iraq's neighbors, and China is deeply aware of the losses suffered by Iraq's neighbors as a result of the sanctions against the country. Moreover, Wang said, the question of missing Kuwaitis and the loss of property should be properly solved at an early date. China believes that a timely and proper solution of the this humanitarian question will contribute to the early normalization of inter-state relations in the Gulf and to the early comprehensive settlement of the Iraq question. |
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