Chinese envoy calls for immediate lifting of sanctions on South Sudan

UNITED NATIONS, March 6 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy to the United Nations on Monday called on the Security Council to immediately lift sanctions on South Sudan to facilitate the protection of civilians in the country.

"Recently, we have seen escalated violence across many regions in South Sudan, including Upper Nile, Jonglei and Equatoria," Dai Bing, charge d'affaires of China's permanent mission to the United Nations, told a Security Council meeting.

China calls on all parties concerned to immediately cease hostilities and settle their differences through dialogue and negotiation, he said.

Dai noted that the government's deployment of security forces in the Nile Corridor has helped stabilize the local situations, fully demonstrating that the country's security must be maintained by its government.

"The (Security) Council sanctions on South Sudan have restricted the government's security capacity to protect civilians and must be lifted immediately," Dai said.

The envoy said that the year 2023 is crucial for South Sudan as the country implements the Revitalized Agreement and advances the political transition. At this critical time, the international community should continue to exercise patience, and give more support and encouragement to South Sudan to help it overcome the difficulties in implementation of the agreement and electoral preparations with tangible actions, he said.

Dai pointed out that the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has made important contributions to peace and stability in the country.

However, "it merits our attention" that the mandate of UNMISS has been expanding in recent years, some parts of which are clearly beyond the competence of a peacekeeping mission and others may undermine the trust between the mission and the host government, he said.

"We hope the Security Council will concentrate on the core mandate of peacekeeping operations when discussing the draft resolution on the renewal of UNMISS mandate, abide by the three principles of peacekeeping, and make practical arrangements in light of the most pressing tasks in South Sudan," said Dai.