China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, called yesterday for an immediate halt to the US-led war against Iraq and a return to efforts to resolve the crisis peacefully.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan (
"We strongly urge relevant countries to immediately stop military action," he told a news conference without mentioning the US by name.
"They ignored the opposition of most countries and peoples of the world and went around the UN Security Council to begin military action against Iraq," he said.
"This constitutes a violation of the UN charter and international principles," he said. "We hereby express our grave concern."
The strength of the statement surprised Chinese analysts who had anticipated a mild reproach that would keep Beijing's desire to keep its improving relations with Washington on track.
Jin Canrong, a professor of international relations at People's University in Beijing said before the official statement he had expected an expression of regret and hope for a resumption of diplomacy "in very hollow and rhetorical terms."
He had expected China to "keep a low profile."
Earlier, in a rare move, state television broadcast live, with simultaneous translation, the address by US President George W. Bush on the start of the war. Other official news outlets, including the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily, ran the text of Bush's brief speech on their Web sites shortly after it ended.
State television also carried a later live broadcast from Baghdad by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, also with translation.
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