China calls on US occupation forces to stop plundering of natural resources in Syria

China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nation has called for an immediate end to the illegal presence of US military forces and their continuing plundering of natural resources and wheat crops in Syria, stressing that unilateral Western sanctions against the Arab nation must be fully lifted.

The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria must be effectively respected. The illegal stationing and military operations of foreign troops in Syria must end, and the illegal plundering of natural resources in Syria by foreign troops must stop immediately, Dai Bing said.

Dai added that unilateral sanctions and the resulting over-compliance run counter to the efforts of the Security Council and the wider international community to improve humanitarian access and increase humanitarian resources in Syria.

“China once again calls on relevant countries to immediately and fully lift unilateral sanctions against Syria,” he said.

US occupation forces, SDF militants steal 53 tankers of oil from Syria to Iraqi bases

A convoy of US military tankers, in cooperation with allied SDF militants, has smuggled crude oil from fields in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah to bases in neighboring Iraq.

Dai made the remarks as the UN Security Council held a briefing on the political and humanitarian situation in Syria on Wednesday. It adopted Resolution 2672 on January 9, allowing the delivery of UN cross-border aid into Syria to continue for a further six months.

The top Chinese diplomat called on the international community to make greater efforts within the next six months to ensure that the resolution is fully and effectively implemented.

The cross-border mechanism of humanitarian deliveries is a temporary arrangement under special circumstances and ultimately there should be a gradual and orderly transition to cross-line deliveries, Dai noted.

He highlighted that Beijing welcomes the UN's updated plan for cross-line operations in northwestern Syria, and looks forward to seeing a more significant increase in the frequency of aid operations as well as the size of convoys.

“Cross-line rescues for the Rukban refugee camp in southeastern Syria should be resumed as soon as possible,” Dai said.

Syrians, disgruntled with US military occupation, brandish national flag in Dayr al-Zawr

Amid smoldering public resentment over US military occupation, locals have hoisted the national Syrian flag in front of a military facility occupied by forces in the country’s eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr.

Earlier this month, China has denounced the United States over its “blatant and egregious” attempts to further plunder natural resources in Syria, stating that American occupation forces are massively smuggling crude oil and grain from the northeastern part of the war-torn country to their bases in northern Iraq.

“We are struck by the blatancy and egregiousness of the US’s plundering of Syria. According to Syrian government data, in the first half of 2022, over 80% of Syria’s daily oil output was smuggled out of the country by US occupation troops,” Spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry Wang Wenbin said at a weekly press briefing in the capital Beijing.

Russian envoy: Western sanctions behind deteriorating humanitarian situation in Syria

The Russian ambassador to the UN holds Western sanctions responsible for the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Syria.

He added that US forces used 60 tankers and trucks in mid-January to steal oil and wheat from Syria.

“Such banditry is aggravating the energy crisis and humanitarian disaster in Syria. The Syrian nation’s right to life is being ruthlessly trampled on by the US. With little oil and food to go by, Syrians are struggling even harder to get through the bitter winter,” the Chinese diplomat pointed out.

The US military has for long stationed its forces and equipment in northeastern Syria, with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of Daesh Takfiri terrorists.

Damascus, however, says the deployment is meant to plunder the Arab country’s natural resources. Former US president Donald Trump admitted on several occasions that American forces were in the Arab country for its oil wealth.

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