2017年CRI Chinese envoy urges unity of Syria, political solution to crisis

China's Special Envoy 1 for Syria has urged all parties to find a political solution to the six-year-long Syrian crisis and avoid the country being carved up.

Xie Xiaoyan's comments come after meetings with Syrian and Iranian officials as part of a mediation 2 effort.

China's special envoy was speaking in the Iranian capital, Tehran, where he stressed the crucial role of Iran in resolving the Syrian crisis.

"Iran is an important country in the Middle East with a significant and unique influence on the Syrian issue. Iran has contributed tremendously to trying to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis, especially with the latest endeavors to maintain a regional ceasefire and strike at local terrorists. China applauds the efforts made by Iran," he said.

Last month in Damascus, the Chinese envoy said China was in touch with all parties concerned in Syria, aiming to restore peace and stability through talks.

Xie says China's stance remains 3 unchanged for the Syrian crisis to be solved politically.

"On the issue of Syria, I want to emphasize that China has no private interests. We are one of the earliest and most consistent countries that insist on solving the Syrian issue with a political resolution. Either for the Syrian government and Syrian opposition 4 or for the international society, China's position has not changed," Xie noted 5.

In May this year, the fourth round of peace talks on the Syrian crisis held in the Kazakhstan capital Astana saw an agreement to establish four de-escalation zones in Syria, which went into force a month later and largely helped curb 6 violence in some areas.

Speaking of the de-escalation zones, the envoy said this consensus 7 showed that the international community had started to take action to ease tensions, and promote new thinking and ideas for the political settlement of the crisis.

He said this marked an important step towards resolving the Syrian crisis.

"We hope the establishment of the de-escalation zones can maintain the ceasefire in the region and facilitate a multilateral peace conversation and negotiations 8, which would help generate an executable resolution each side can be satisfied with. I believe this is the right direction all concerned parties are endeavoring to achieve," Xie added.

Meanwhile, Xie said other issues, including the humanitarian 9 crisis, should be taken into full account.

China has provided 680 million yuan, about 100 million U.S. dollars of humanitarian aid, including cash, medical equipment, medicine, and food to help alleviate 10 the suffering of the Syrian people.

The envoy finally stressed that all parties should respect the principle of self-determination in the political process of the Syrian issue, namely, to let the Syrian people decide their own future.