File photo of Chen Xu, China's Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva. /Xinhua
File photo of Chen Xu, China's Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva. /Xinhua
China on Friday called on the international community to help different sides in Myanmar carry out dialogue and reconciliation following the recent military takeover in the Southeast Asian country.
Chen Xu, China's Permanent Representative to the UN's Geneva Office, made the remarks at a special session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, calling the situation in Myanmar its internal affair.
"What is important now is that the international community, on the premise of respecting Myanmar's sovereignty, political independence, territorial integrity and national unity, should help relevant parties in Myanmar carry out dialogue and reconciliation in line with the will and interests of people in Myanmar and support the mediation efforts of the ASEAN and the special envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar as well as her office," Chen said.
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Myanmar's military detained the country's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint and declared a state of emergency on February 1, alleging massive voting fraud in the general elections in November.
Chen stressed that any action taken by the UN Human Rights Council should be conducive to maintaining political and social stability in Myanmar, warning against any move that could "exacerbate tension and further complicate the situation."
"As a friendly neighbor, China hopes that all parties in Myanmar will put the will and interests of the people of Myanmar first, properly handle differences through dialogue under the constitutional and legal framework and maintain political and social stability," said the diplomat.
"China is in communication and contacts with relevant parties in Myanmar to facilitate de-escalation of tension and bring the situation back to normal," he added.