BEIRUT (AP) — China’s special envoy to Syria is expected to press authorities for a cease-fire to end the country’s crisis today even as Beijing remains firmly opposed to any foreign intervention in the Mideast country.
Li Huaqing, a former Chinese ambassador to Syria, will meet with government officials during his two-day visit. He is not expected to meet figures from the opposition seeking to overthrow authoritarian President Bashar Assad.
China has remained a key Syrian ally throughout the 11- month uprising against Assad. As international condemnation of Assad’s deadly crackdown on dissent has grown, China and Russia have protected Syria from condemnation by the U. N. Security Council.
Both countries fear such a resolution could lead to military intervention against Assad, as it did last year against Moammar Gadhafi of Libya.
The Syrian regime agreed Monday to allow visits by two other prominent international emissaries it had previously rebuffed — former U. N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan, the new special envoy to Syria, and U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos.
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