China praises UN envoy, promises support on Myanmar

By DPA

Beijing : China Wednesday praised the “remarkable” work by UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to improve the situation in Myanmar and promised continued support for his mediation efforts.


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“You have made a remarkable contribution to the mediation on the Myanmar issue in the past two weeks, which we appreciate,” state media quoted Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei as telling Gambari late Wednesday.

“China will continue to give all-out support to your work,” the official Xinhua news agency quoted He as saying before he began formal talks with Gambari.

Gambari, who represents UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, was also scheduled to hold talks with State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan and Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his two-day visit to China, the ministry said earlier.

China is the fifth leg of Gamabri’s trip to press six Asian nations to exert pressure on the Myanmar military to end its suppression of pro-democracy protesters and initiate political reform.

After talks on Tuesday with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Gambari said the UN appreciated the help of China – Myanmar’s main weapons supplier – in defusing the crisis by facilitating meetings with the junta leaders at the height of the crisis.

Gambari also held talks in Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore, and is scheduled to travel to Japan after China.

China said earlier this month that it did not support UN sanctions against Myanmar’s ruling junta but favoured continued mediation by the UN envoy.

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