China on Saturday said it "welcomes" and "supports" the
Resolution 1701 unanimously adopted by the United Nations Security
Council on the Lebanon-Israel conflict, according to the Foreign
Ministry Spokesperson Office.
"China hopes the concerned sides will implement the Security
Council resolution in a tangible manner, restore peace and
stability in the Middle East region at an early date and China will
continue its efforts for that," the office said in response to
journalists' questions.
The UN Security Council early Saturday morning unanimously
adopted a compromise resolution on the ongoing violence in Lebanon
and Israel after much hard negotiations between the concerned
parties.
The one month-long conflict has caused large number of civilian
casualties and led to humanitarian disaster as well as damage to
regional peace and security.
China kept pushing the UN Security Council to take actions,
urged the concerned sides to ceasefire and turn back to the track
of seeking political solution, the office said.
Chinese Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Liu Zhenmin
said after the resolution was adopted that it has "formed a good
foundation for future efforts to achieve long-term political
solution to the Lebanon-Israel issue."
However, the Chinese envoy stressed that the adoption of the
resolution is just the first step, and the parties concerned are
faced with more arduous tasks.
China has sent a special envoy on the Middle East Sun Bigan to
Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Egypt and Saudi
Arabia to ask the concerned parties to ceasefire and seek a
political framework for a long-term solution to the conflict to
avoid further disaster.
The resolution, drafted by France and the United States, called
for Israeli troops withdrawal and authorized an increase of the
existing UN force in Lebanon to 15,000 troops to help Lebanese
troops take control of south Lebanon as Israel withdraws.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah erupted on July 12
when Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight
during cross-border raids.
Currently, about 10,000 Israeli troops are operating in south
Lebanon and have been engaged in fierce confrontations with
Hezbollah guerillas.
Israel stepped up its massive offensive in Lebanon as Hezbollah
continued showering Israel with rockets.
Over 120 Israelis and about 1,000 Lebanese have been killed in
the fighting.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour has
called earlier this week for a thorough probe of human rights
violations in the conflict in Lebanon and northern Israel.
"China condemns all actions that destabilize the Mideast
situation, it condemns all attacks on civilians and civilian
facilities, and calls on related parties to immediately halt all
hostilities," Sha Zukang, Chinese ambassador to the UN Office in
Geneva said on Friday while addressing a special session of the UN
Human Rights Council.
(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2006)