China welcomes extension of UNSMIS

China welcomed the mandate renewal of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria by the UN Security Council, said a Chinese diplomat here on Friday.

"We welcomed the resolution just adopted by the Security Council to renew the mandate of UNSMIS," said Li Baodong, permanent representative of China to the UN. "Actually, this is what China suggested from the very beginning: to have a technical rollover of UNSMIS by consensus."

The Security Council on Friday unanimously adopted a rollover resolution, which was proposed by Germany, France, Britain and Portugal, to extend the mandate of UNSMIS for a final period of 30 days.

Li said that China is very happy to see that this is happening today and China's suggestion has been taken into consideration, adding that it is a very positive development.

"We are also very happy to see the Security Council come back to the right track," he said. "This is very united, important signal sent by the Council to support a political solution to the Syria issue as well as Kofi Annan's mediation efforts."

China urges all the parties and forces in Syria to stop violence, achieve ceasefire, ensure the safety of members and staff of the UNSMIS, and cooperate fully with the work of UNSMIS, said the Chinese envoy.

He also stressed that China has all along maintained that the prospect and destiny of Syria should be independently determined by the Syrian people, rather than imposed by outside forces.

"We believe the Syrian issue must be resolved through political means, and military means would go nowhere," Li added. "This is China's consistent position on international affairs."

The Security Council established UNSMIS in April with an initial 90-day mandate, which expires at 12 pm on Friday.

UNSMIS was tasked with monitoring the cessation of violence in Syria and the full implementation of the international peace plan put forward to end the ongoing crisis. However, the mission suspended its regular patrols since June 16 due to the escalating violence in the country.