国内英语新闻:China calls on int'l community to assess Myanmar in "fair, objective" way

UNITED NATIONS, July 13 (Xinhua) -- The international community should give a more balanced assessment of the political progress Myanmar has made and treat it with less arrogance and prejudice, a senior Chinese diplomat said here Monday.

    Liu Zhenmin, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, told an open meeting of the Security Council that "it has been unfair to turn a blind eye to the progress Myanmar has made, or instead, always be picky at its government."

    Liu said the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been actively conducted good offices in Myanmar as mandated by the General Assembly in recent years.

    "His unremitting efforts and the positive outcome thereby achieved deserve an objective and fair assessment by the international community," he said.

    Ban briefed the 15 members of the Security Council at the meeting on his latest visit to the south-eastern Asian country on July 3-4, the second in just over a year.

An open Security Council meeting on Myanmar is held at the UN headquarters in New York, the United States, July 13, 2009. China is opposed to putting the Myanmar question on the UN Security Council agenda and is against isolating and sanctioning against the country, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN Liu Zhenmin said here on Monday, stressing the events that happened inside Myanmar were its internal affairs

During his visit, Ban met with Senior-General Than Shwe, Myanmar's head of state, and people from other political parties including the National League for Democracy (NLD), but was under pressure from some media and certain countries due to his failure to meet with NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

    Liu voiced China's support to Ban and highly appreciated his recent visit, calling the visit "positive and full of significance."

    "Whether or not he met with Aung San Suu Kyi should not be used as a criterion to measure the success of the visit," he said.

    Also on Monday, Myanmar's UN Ambassador U Than Swe told the Security Council that his government regretted its inability to arrange the meeting as the special court has its independent jurisdiction over the matter.

    "Aung San Suu Kyi was unfortunately involved in the legal proceed. In order to maintain the justice of judicial process, the Myanmar government did not arrange the bilateral meeting. This is totally understandable. The UN should respect the jurisdiction of its member state," Liu said.

    He said China has time and again stressed that the secretary-general's good offices are a process and his visit is a part of the efforts.

    Ban had in-depth talks with top leaders of Myanmar, directly conveyed to them the concern of the international community and enhanced mutual trust between Myanmar and the UN, Liu said.

    "This will play an important role in encouraging the Myanmar side to maintain the current momentum and promote the democratic process according to the established plans," Liu said.