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China Urges Quick Action to Stop Violence in Mideast
China wants a quick reaction by the international community to violence in the Middle East as it is the concern of the world people, said Chinese Permanent Representative to the United Nations Wang Yingfan Saturday.
The U.N. Security Council has been working very hard for that and China has participated very actively in the council's work to find a way of solving the problem, Wang said before joining a new council meeting Saturday afternoon.
The meeting is the continuation of a marathon consultation to work out a council resolution aimed at stopping the week-long violence which resulted in over 70 deaths, mainly Palestinians.
China's objective is the continuation of the peace process in the Middle East, and if the process can go on uninterrupted, it would be in the interest of all the people in the region and the world at large, Wang said.
"We hope that all the parties will restrain so that they will make efforts to stop the present violence and the peace process would be on the track," he said.
The council's closed-door meeting, starting Friday afternoon, went on until early Saturday morning on the draft resolution proposed by a number of developing countries representing the 114-member non-aligned movement.
The draft condemns Israel's "excessive use of force against the Palestinian population" and blames Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon for provoking rioting in the occupied Palestinian territories and in some Israeli Arab towns since September 28.
The United States has demanded that some Israel-targeted words in the draft be omitted or watered down, otherwise it would veto it or abstain from voting. The non-aligned group has stuck to the current text, asking for a quick vote on the ground that violence is going on and the situation needs a quick reaction.
The U.S. requested a delay of vote to give President Bill Clinton more time to talk with concerned parties in the Middle East. He canceled a weekend trip to discuss over telephone the latest developments with the leaders of Israel and the Palestinians.
News media are waiting to see if there will be any change in the U.S. attitude towards the draft resolution.
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