China Over Syria : Action won’t help

China is urging restraint amid growing tensions over Syria, saying any military intervention in the crisis would only worsen turmoil in the Middle East. Foreign Minister Wang Yi said yesterday military action would not help, and repeated China opposed anyone using chemical weapons. “A political resolution has, from the very beginning, been the only way out for the Syrian issue.” There should be no rush to prejudge findings of a UN team investigating chemical weapons claims, he said. “China calls on all sides to exercise restraint and remain calm,” Wang said. Chinese petroleum enterprises have left Syria as a result of local turmoil, the Ministry of Commerce said. Zhong Manying, director of the ministry’s department of Western Asian and African affairs, said Chinese companies and citizens had been advised to leave.