UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's UN envoy on Friday voiced the hope that all Syrian parties will maintain political dialogue through the nation's constitutional committee.
Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, said at the Security Council that since the end of October, both the large body of the 150-member constitutional committee and the 45-member small group have initiated their work, noting that China welcomes such a progress.
"We hope that all parties will maintain political dialogue through the constitutional committee to enhance mutual understanding and trust," he said.
He said attention should be paid to maintaining the independence of the work of the constitutional committee. "There should be no outside interference, nor arbitrary time limits."
He added that the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria should be fully respected. "The legitimate desires of the Syrian government should be heeded."
Syria cannot be divided nor fragmented, he said, calling on the members of the constitutional committee to put the interests of Syria and its people first and participate in the dialogue with the political will and the spirit of compromise.
