Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said Friday that China sincerely hopes that all parties in Myanmar can resolve differences through political dialogue as soon as possible under the country's constitutional and legal framework.
As a close neighbor, China follows the situation in Myanmar very closely and has been working on all parties in Myanmar and actively engaged in UN Security Council consensus-building, Zhang said during informal talks held at the Security Council on the situation in the member country of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Zhang said China supports ASEAN in conducting mediation in "the ASEAN way" and playing a positive role in easing the situation in Myanmar.
The envoy said what happened in Myanmar is the country's internal affairs, and sanctions will only aggravate tensions and confrontation and further complicate the situation, which is by no means constructive.
The international community should, on the basis of respecting Myanmar's sovereignty, political independence, territorial integrity and national unity, uphold objective attitudes, support the efforts by the countries in the region, avoid sanctions and interference, and create a sound environment for Myanmar to solve its problems, he said.
Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly on Friday took the rare step of calling on member states to "prevent the flow of arms" into Myanmar, where the military detained the country's president, and civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, on February 1.
The resolution stopped short of calling for a global arms embargo but demanded that the military "immediately stop all violence against peaceful demonstrators."
The resolution also calls for a restoration of democracy in Myanmar and the release of all detained civilian leaders.
"We absolutely must create the conditions for democracy to be reinstated," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres before the vote on the resolution, which he hoped would send a "very clear message" from the General Assembly.