China urges political settlement of South Sudan crisis

UNITED NATIONS, March 24 (Jonglei Times)- China hopes the international community will forcefully push for a political settlement of the South Sudan conflict, a Chinese envoy to the United Nations (UN) said Thursday.

Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, made the remarks at a Security Council meeting on South Sudan, which was attended by British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"Political settlement is the only solution," he said, adding that "the international community should push all the parties in South Sudan to cease hostilities and come back to the track of political settlement, and effectively implement their peace agreement."

China welcomes President Salva Kiir's initiative of holding national dialogue, and hopes that all the parties in South Sudan will actively participate in the process to settle their differences through dialogue and consultations and promote reconciliation in a joint effort to achieve national peace, stability and development, Wu said.

The ambassador also called on the international community to bring into full play the role of regional and sub-regional organizations such as the African Union (AU) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

On the sidelines of the AU's 28th conference in January this year, the AU, IGAD and the UN agreed that a peaceful political solution to the ongoing civil war in South Sudan could only be achieved if parties concerned stick to the August 2015 compromise peace agreement.

At the Security Council meeting, Wu also urged the international community to help South Sudan address famine and provide South Sudanese government with disaster relief support.

He encouraged all parties to the conflict in South Sudan to proceed from the interests of the people and create favorable conditions for a speedy delivery of disaster relief goods to the affected areas.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011, but a political face-off between Kiir and his former Vice-President Riek Machar erupted in December 2013, plunging the country into a full-blown conflict.

Although the August 2015 peace agreement formally ended the war, conflict and instability have also spread to previously unaffected areas.
 

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