China Slams US Illegal Occupation of Syria

By Staff, Agencies

China slammed the US lawmakers for “the illegal military occupation of Syria that has only deepened the country’s humanitarian crisis.”

At a Friday press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning was asked to comment on a recent vote by the US Congress to prolong military intervention in Syria. Mao responded by urging Washington to “immediately end the troops’ illegal occupation and plundering” and repeal crippling sanctions targeting the Syrian economy.

“Since the US began its illegal interference in the Syrian crisis, its military operations in Syria have taken away a large number of innocent civilian lives and caused grave humanitarian disasters,” she said, adding that the US has been “criticized multiple times” by the United Nations and other international bodies for “indiscriminate attacks that may amount to a war crime.”

Mao also implored Washington to “respect other countries’ sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity,” and to stop “aggravating humanitarian disasters” in Syria, where a recent earthquake left more than 7,000 dead. US economic penalties have interfered with relief efforts in the wake of the disaster, prompting further calls from Beijing to drop the sanctions and allow for much-needed aid to enter the country unimpeded.

The People’s Republic has previously highlighted oil theft by US forces stationed in Syria’s resource-rich northeast, where they have long been embedded with Kurdish militia groups. In January, Beijing accused Washington of “banditry” and “plundering,” citing local government statistics asserting that more than 80% of Syria’s daily oil output had been “smuggled out of the country by US occupation troops” in the first half of 2022.