BEIJING, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The world must get used to
a rising China speaking hard truths about international disputes
such as Syria, a top newspaper said on Tuesday, saying its veto
of a U.N. resolution on the Syrian crisis showed China would be
no "rubber stamp".
China said its blocking, along with Russia, of a draft U.N.
resolution that backed an Arab plan urging President Bashar
al-Assad to quit, did not amount to supporting the Syrian
leader.
Activists accused Assad's forces of bombarding part of the
city of Homs before the U.N. vote on the weekend, killing 200
people in the worst bloodshed of the 11-month uprising. The
opposition said 50 people were killed in Homs on Monday.
The head of the Arab League, Nabil Elaraby, said Russia and
China had lost diplomatic credit in the Arab world by vetoing
the resolution.
But the overseas edition of the People's Daily, the
mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, said in a front-page
commentary China was right to stand up for what it believed was
the correct course over Syria.
"The Syrian situation is worsening, and China and Russia's
decision to veto created a 'window of opportunity' for a soft
landing to the problem, which should not be wasted," wrote Ruan
Zongze, who the paper identified as a foreign affairs expert.
Ruan said China should tough out the international outcry
over the veto.
"Today, China, because of its rapidly rising strength, sits
at the main table on the global stage, and needs to get used to
newly being in the limelight. The international community also
needs to adjust to China's new role," Ruan said.
"Although this means that China will face even more
difficult choices when it comes to handling complex
international affairs, China must dare to speak its mind, and
proactively create a just, rational global political process."
"PUSH FOR DIALOGUE"
On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin
told reporters that Western powers that initiated the U.N.
Security Council vote on their resolution were culpable for not
going far enough in seeking compromise.
"China is not playing favourites and nor is it deliberately
opposing anyone, but rather is upholding an objective and fair
stance and a responsible position," Liu said.
"Our goal is for the Syrian people to escape violence,
conflict and flames of war, and not to make the problem even
more complicated," he said.
In the People's Daily, Ruan said the resolution had been
aimed at "regime change", which ran contrary to the U.N.'s
charter, hence China could not support it.
China was leading the charge to prevent the Security Council
from becoming "just a rubber stamp", Ruan said.
"The international community ought to create conditions for
national political reconciliation in Syria and push for dialogue
and the narrowing of differences," he wrote.
China's explanations are unlikely to mollify critics in
Western capitals and the Middle East.
Dozens of Syrian and Libyan demonstrators on Monday threw
rocks, eggs and tomatoes at the Chinese embassy in Tripoli,
where they also broke windows and sprayed graffiti on walls in a
show of disgust.
The conflicting Chinese and Western positions have exposed a
wider rift about how China should use its growing influence and
whether it should foresake its long-standing, albeit unevenly
applied, principle of non-interference in other countries'
domestic conflicts.
China's siding with Russia over Syria could also add to
irritants with the United States. Vice President Xi Jinping is
due to visit there next week, burnishing his credentials as the
Communist Party's likely next top leader.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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