China, together with Russia, Qatar and Congo, voted on Friday against a UN Security Council decision that put the situation of Myanmar on its agenda.

The decision was adopted by a 10-4 vote, with one abstention from Tanzania.

Explaining China's strong reservation over the decision before the vote, Chinese Permanent Representative Wang Guangya called for an objective evaluation of the relations between Myanmar's internal situation and international peace and security.

He noted that when neither Myanmar's neighbors nor most of the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations consider Myanmar's situation a threat to peace and security in the region, some countries that lie far away have argued that the country's situation poses a threat to international peace and security. "This is at least a far cry from reality," he said.

The Chinese ambassador stressed that forcing the Security Council to discuss issues that are essentially the internal affairs of a country can only make the situation in that country even complicated, and inevitably damage the Council's authority and legitimacy.

Wang Guangya said there is no denying the fact that Myanmar is confronted with a host of problems, and some of them are rather serious, but the international community should not lose sight of Myanmar's efforts to tackle all these problems.

He urged the international community to do more to help promote the democratization process in Myanmar so that the country can be integrated into the peace and development process in the region.

"As a permanent member of the Security Council and a close neighbor of Myanmar in the Asia and Pacific region, China wishes all the more strongly than any other countries to see Myanmar's political stability, economic growth and national unity. As long as the situation in the country does not pose any threat to peace and security in the region and the world at large, China is opposed to putting the Myanmar issue on the agenda of the Security Council," he said.

Source: Xinhua