The Chinese Foreign Ministry has called for an immediate ceasefire in the world’s newest state, South Sudan on Monday as peace talks to end a three-week outburst of ethnic fighting faced delay.
The Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi made this known during his visit to Ethiopia.
On a visit to Ethiopia, Chinese, Wang said that Beijing was deeply concerned by the unrest in South Sudan, which has killed more than a thousand people and forced the government to cut oil production by about a fifth.
“China’s position with regards to the current situation in South Sudan is very clear. First, we call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and violence,’’ Wang told a news conference on the first stop of an African tour.
Wang was speaking in Addis Ababa, where peace talks aimed at thrashing out a ceasefire deal have been repeatedly delayed.
In Dec. 2013, Beijing made an appealed to all sides in South Sudan to stop fighting.
Wang said that China would do everything it could to help restore stability in South Sudan without giving further details and urged international powers to back the Ethiopian-led mediation efforts.
The three weeks of fighting, which began in the capital but spread beyond, often along ethnic fault lines, have pitted President Salva Kiir’s SPLA government forces against rebels loyal to former vice president Riek Machar.
Reuters/NAN
