Foreign and Military Affairs
China hopes to see peaceful referenda in Sudan
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-12-17 09:28
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UNITED NATIONS - China on Thursday voiced its hope that parties in the north and south Sudan will make continuous efforts for a peaceful, free, transparent and just referenda in Sudan in accordance with the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), and called for international efforts to create favorable conditions for the January referenda.
The statement came as Yang Tao, the counsellor of the Chinese Permanent Mission to the United Nations, was addressing an open Security Council meeting on Sudan.
A referendum on self-determination for southern Sudan is scheduled to be conducted on Jan 9, 2011, as it was stipulated in the CPA inked between north and south Sudan in 2005, which ended a two-decade civil war between the two sides.
"We call on the international community to create a favorable condition for the referenda and refrain from prejudging the outcome," he said. "No party should take unilateral action. No matter what outcome of the referenda might be, peace and stability in Sudan and the region must be ensured."
Inhabitants of the south will vote on Jan 9, 2011 on whether to secede from Sudan or remain united with the rest of the country. On the same day, residents of Abyei, located in the center of the country, will vote separately on whether to retain Abyei's special administrative status in the north or become part of Bahr el-Ghazal state in the south.
Since the Security Council held the high-level open meeting on Sudan last month, the peace process in Sudan continues to register positive progress, Yang noted.
"Voter registration for the referenda for southern Sudan has been concluded smoothly, we commend the north and south Sudan, the African Union and the UN Secretariat for the efforts to this end," he said.
"Maintaining the peace, stability and development in Sudan is in the interest of the Sudanese people, and it is also conducive to the peace and development in the region and in the African continent," Yang said.
"China hopes that the north and south will cherish the peace that was hard to come by, and continue their equal dialogue and consultation in order to reach an early agreement on the border demarcation, Abyei and wealth sharing and other outstanding issues, " he said. "This is of great significance to the maintenance of the long-term peace and stability in Sudan and the region."
