China on Sunday welcomed the deal between the United States and Russia to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons, adding its approval to that of Britain, France and the OPCW. Rebels fighting Syrian government forces greeted it with dismay, fearing it has scuppered any chance of western intervention on their side.
“The Chinese side welcomes the framework agreement between the US and Russia. This agreement will enable tensions in Syria to be eased,” Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a meeting with his visiting French counterpart Laurent Fabius.
It was the first official reaction by China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, to the landmark agreement reached in Geneva on Saturday after three days of talks between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia’s Sergei Lavrov.