Why China vetoes UN draft resolution for Syria issue

Edited and translated by People's Daily Online

On Feb. 4, the UN Security Council voted on the draft resolution for the Syria crisis. Based on the standpoint of solving issues through peaceful negotiations and political measures, both China and Russia vetoed the draft resolution.

The situation of Syria is still worsening and civilian casualties of Syria are still increasing. Vetoing the UN Security Council's draft resolution does not mean that China will sit by and watch the sad situation going on. Instead, it means China is responsible for the fundamental interests of the Syrian people. The current situation of Syria is very complicated, and the action of simply supporting one side and opposing the other side seemingly will bring a favorable turn but actually will lead to potential disasters.

Promoting solving a country's internal conflict in a peaceful way will not only effectively stop violence from spreading but also lay a solid foundation for the country's long-term stability. Using violence to restrain violence will not bring long-term peace.

It is not hard for the most powerful military alliance to overthrow a small country's administration through war. The problem is that the military giant will withdraw after the war. Even if it stays for a while, it will not taking protecting lives of local civilians as its primary task. The tragedies that have occurred in Iraq and Afghanistan have proved it.

Using violence to prevent humanitarian disasters sounds just and responsible. However, aren't the attacks and explosions that have occurred after the regime changes in the two countries humanitarian disasters? If member countries of the UN Security Council take this possible result into consideration, they should be more cautious and careful in dealing with the civil disorder of a country.