Beijing: China on Thursday called for respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries in the fight against terrorism, as US President Barack Obama vowed to expand airstrikes in Iraq and Syria to contain the Islamic State militants.
"We hold that in the international struggle against terrorism, the international law should be respected, as well as the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the countries concerned," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told media.
She said that this while responding to Obama's announcement to make "a steady, relentless effort" to root out the Islamic State extremists in Iraq. Obama, in a nationally televised speech from the White House, today announced that the US will lead an expanded global coalition to address the threat of terrorism.
He authorised US airstrikes inside Syria for the first time and vowed to send another 475 US troops into Iraq. The US military has so far conducted about 150 airstrikes on Islamic State targets inside Iraq. Side stepping a question whether China will join the coalition to fight IS, Hua said China is ready to abide by the principle of mutual respect, equality and cooperation to strengthen anti-terrorist cooperation with the rest of the international community and maintain global peace and stability.
Maintaining that China firmly opposes any form of terrorism, she said, the international community should jointly fight against terrorism and support the effort that the related countries made to maintain internal security and stability.
"At present, the international fight against terrorism is in a grim and complex situation," she said. Since the rise of international terrorism is yet to be stemmed, chronic disturbance in certain regions has provided opportunities for activities by international terrorist forces, Hua said.
She said that these factors have brought about new threats to international security and stability and new challenges to the international fight against terrorism. "We hope that under joint effort of the international community, the countries concerned would resume order and stability as soon as possible and realise reconciliation, peace and development," Hua said. She said that it will help eliminate the rise of terrorism and realise sustainable peace and stability.
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