China envoy urges conflicting parties in Sudan to cease hostilities promptly

UNITED NATIONS, May 22 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Monday called on the conflicting parties in Sudan to halt hostilities promptly.

"As a good friend and good partner of Sudan, we sincerely hope that the two parties to the conflict will give priority to Sudan's peace and the well-being of its people, stop hostilities as soon as possible, and resolve differences through dialogue and negotiation," Dai Bing, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, told the Security Council meeting on the situation in Sudan.

Dai said China has noted that the two parties to the conflict have reached temporary ceasefire on multiple occasions and signed the Agreement on a Short-term Ceasefire and Humanitarian Arrangement in Jeddah last Saturday.

"The pressing task is to ensure the implementation of commitments to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure and to provide security guarantees for and facilitate humanitarian assistance and evacuation," he said.

"We hope that the parties to the conflict will continue the momentum of dialogue, strive for a more durable ceasefire and political arrangement, and bring the country's development back on track," he added.

"We call on the UN and international partners to support and cooperate with regional organizations, with a view to providing the necessary time and space for regional mediation," Dai said.

"The developments in Sudan have once again demonstrated that a solution to the question of Sudan can only be found from within the country. External interference or unilateral sanctions will not solve the problem, but will instead intensify tensions and aggravate political and social crises. The international community needs to draw a lesson. Relevant parties should seriously reflect on the current situation and refrain from expanding unilateral sanctions and thus going further down the wrong path," the envoy noted.

The ambassador pointed out that since the outbreak of the conflict, the already fragile economic and humanitarian situation in Sudan and its neighboring countries has become even more worrisome, adding that China commends Sudan's neighbors for hosting a large number of Sudanese refugees despite the difficulties they themselves face, and calls on the international community to step up assistance to Sudan and its neighbors to alleviate the spillover impact on the region.

"China supports the UN in communicating and coordinating with Sudan and its neighboring countries on humanitarian issues, helping the regional countries with their response capacity, and easing humanitarian pressure," said the envoy.

On the mandate of the UN mission in Sudan, UNITAMS, Dai said its mandate will expire in early June.

"In view of the current situation, UNITAMS will face considerable challenges in its future work. China encourages the penholders to stay in close touch with Sudan and fully respect its views. This is not only conducive to the smooth work of UNITAMS in the future, but also to the long-term cooperation between the UN and Sudan, said the ambassador.