Welcoming the US-Russia deal to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons, China today called for an early and proper resolution of the crisis within the framework of the United Nations.
"China welcomes the signing of the framework agreement and hopes that the agreement will be implemented," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said today.
A political resolution is the only realistic way to solve the issues in Syria, he said. This process should be pushed forward together with the destruction of the chemical weapons, he added.
Hong's comments came in the wake of a framework agreement on resolving the issue of Syrian chemical weapons reached by US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Saturday.
The agreement is to secure and destroy Syria's chemical weapons by mid-2014 and impose penalties if the Bashar al-Assad government fails to comply.
Under the agreement, Syria must submit a "comprehensive listing" of its chemical weapons stockpiles within one week, and UN weapons inspectors must be on the ground in Syria by November.
"China called for an immediate ceasefire in Syria to create conditions for destruction of the chemical weapons and an early convening of the second international conference on Syria in Geneva," Hong said.
