China, Myanmar and Bangladesh officials meet on Rohingya at UN

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Beijing said it has reached consensus with Myanmar and Bangladesh on Rohingya after Wang Yi, China's Foreign Minister and State Councilor, met officials from the two countries alongside the annual UN gathering in New York on Thursday, according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry.

Wang held an informal meeting with Myanmar's Minister for the Office of the State Counsellor U Kyaw Tint Swe and Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, and also attended by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Wang commended UN's role in settling the Rohingya crisis and urged the international community to play a more constructive role.

More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar. Most are now living in refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh since a brutal government crackdown in the country's Rakhine state.

Myanmar and Bangladesh have reached three points of agreements, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

The statement read: "First, they agreed to settle the refugee issue through dialogue and consultation. Second, Bangladesh is ready to send the first batch of refugees back to Myanmar and Myanmar is ready to retake those people. Third, the two countries agreed to meet to work on the details of repatriation and to start the repatriation as soon as possible."

Wang said he and the two officials had agreed on the urgency of resolving the issue when they met in Beijing in June, and they agreed to settle the issue via dialogue and consultation.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) shakes hands with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres prior to their meeting at UN Headquarters in New York, Sept. 18, 2017. /Reuters Photo

China has been playing an active role in the Rohingya issue.

In a separate meeting with Guterres last week, Wang said China “understands and supports” Myanmar's efforts to protect its security in Rakhine and hopes the “fire of war” can soon be extinguished.

He also expresses sympathy with those who have fled into Bangladesh and pledged to send humanitarian aid to Bangladesh.