China has joined Russia and other UN Security Council member states in calling for a peaceful end to Syria’s civil conflict, Reuters reported. While the statement China signed did not explicitly demand Assad step down, it did call for an end to Syrian military troop movements against rebel fighters and to “facilitate a Syrian-led political transition to a democratic, plural political system.” The statement also threatens “further steps” if the regime of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad fails to comply with a six-point peace proposal laid out by Kofi Annan, the UN-Arab League envoy to the benighted country. China’s support marks a departure from earlier vetoes on UN resolutions which condemned Syrian government assaults on protesters. The UN says Syria’s de-facto civil war, which began early last year, has killed over 8,000 civilians.
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