Chinese envoy calls for objectivity in Syria chemical weapons issue

A Chinese envoy on Wednesday called for respecting a convention on chemical weapons particularly as it relates to Syria.

Noting that the Chemical Weapons Convention is the basis for addressing chemical weapons-related issues, Sun Zhiqiang, counselor of the Chinese Permanent Mission to the United Nations, said certain countries in recent years have completely disregarded the convention's provisions regarding Syria.

Sun said certain countries failed to seek consensus and lacked objectivity in their work.

"Such acts undermine the authority of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), poison its atmosphere and erode the mutual trust among states parties," he told the Security Council. "China urges the countries concerned to change course and desist from politicizing the work of the OPCW."

China also hopes that the OPCW Technical Secretariat and the OPCW director-general will uphold objectivity and impartiality and pursue unity and cooperation among states parties over division and confrontation, he added.