Chinese official urges political solution to S. Sudan war
December 9, 2017 (KAMPALA) – The Chinese ambassador to Uganda, Zheng Zhuqiang has called for a negotiated settlement to end South Sudan crisis and pledged China’s support for thousands of its refugees.
“A deal means a compromise. War can’t be a compromise. Any deal, if it is reached voluntarily and through negotiations, can last long,” he told Xinhua on Friday.
According to the Chinese ambassador, the military option has never been a solution towards ending the conflict in the war-tor nation.
“In today’s world the only way to solve the conflict is through political dialogue and negotiations. If you resolve the conflict through force it will be temporary solution. The peace can’t last long. It will come back again,” said Zheng.
The Chinese government, said, will continue supporting and offer relief assistance to thousands of South Sudanese refugees displaced into the neighboring countries.
Meanwhile, hundreds of women on Saturday took to the streets of the South Sudanese capital, Juba, to demand an end to the country’s civil war as well the suffering of people in the young nation.
“We, the women of South Sudan, have decided that we have had enough of this. This war has been going on for a long time,” said a demonstrator.
The protesters carried posters and signs bearing wordings like, “Save my future, stop the war” and “Enough of the bloodshed”, among others.
South Sudan descended into a civil war in mid-December 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused Riek Machar, his former deputy of attempting to overthrow the government. Since then, tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than two million displaced.
(ST)