China to UN: Unilateral Syria sanctions must be lifted amid pandemic

China has called for the complete and immediate lifting of unilateral sanctions against Syria, saying the “coercive measures” will hamper the war-ravaged country’s efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Press TV, addressing a video-teleconferencing meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation in Syria on Monday, Zhang Jun, China’s new Ambassador to the UN, voiced grave concerns “about the negative impact of unilateral sanctions on countries’ capacity to respond to the pandemic, especially for vulnerable countries like Syria.”

“We call for complete and immediate lifting of unilateral coercive measures,” said Zhang, adding that “civilians and innocent people are suffering severely from those sanctions.”

He expressed Beijing’s support for a call by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for the removal of sanctions that are hindering the global fight against the new coronavirus.

“Our position is explained in detail in the recent joint letter to the secretary-general, together with Russia, among others. We hope the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs joins the voice of the secretary-general and high commissioner for human rights in this regard,” said Zhang.

Syria’s Health Ministry on Sunday confirmed the country’s first death resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic as the country’s fragile health system reels from nine years of foreign-backed war and sanctions.

The ministry also confirmed four new coronavirus cases, raising the total number of cases to 10 in the country.

The country is scrambling to counter the spread of the coronavirus outbreak by adopting numerous measures such as postponing parliamentary elections and suspending the work of certain public institutions and services.

ME