China calls for lifting of US sanctions on Syria instead of suspension

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
13 Feb 18:29
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China, at a critical time for Syria, is calling on the United States to commit by removing the sanctions imposed on the country.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin speaks during the daily briefing in Beijing, June 11, 2021 (AP Photo/Liu Zheng, File)

Chinese Foreign Ministery spokesman Wang Wenbin on Monday called on the United States to immediately lift all illegal unilateral sanctions imposed on Syria and to put aside Washington's "geopolitical calculations."

The US Treasury Department announced Thursday a temporary lifting of some Syria-related sanctions following calls from the Syrian state and the international community in the aftermath of the 7.8-magnitude that struck Syria and Turkey.

In a statement, the Department indicated that the move "authorizes for 180 days all transactions related to earthquake relief that would be otherwise prohibited by the Syrian Sanctions Regulations."

According to the statement, the license includes "the processing or transfer of funds on behalf of third-country persons to or from Syria in support of the transactions."

The Treasury Department's late temporary lifting of some Syria-related sanctions came days after some 4,000 Syrians were killed as a result of Monday's devastating earthquake after rescue operations were hindered due to the lack of heavy machinery and medical supplies and the poor infrastructure in certain areas.

UN World Food Programme Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Corinne Fleischer said that some sanctions imposed on Syria must be lifted so that the humanitarian community could deliver medicines and fertilizers to the country.

On Thursday, as well, the United Nations stressed the need for avoiding the politicization of aid to earthquake victims in Syria, calling on the United States and the European Union to ensure there would be no "impediments" to the relief process.

"Emergency response must not be politicized," Geir Pedersen, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, told reporters in Geneva, saying aid is needed to get to state-controlled areas, as well as those controlled by militants.

In the same context, the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) and Red Crescent Societies said US draconian sanctions against Syria raise prices and hamper humanitarian operations.

"Sanctions do have these unintended consequences. And if I summarize, [it] increases the prices on everything that we do, takes more time to deliver the humanitarian services, it sometimes requires private supplies that could again increase the cost and there is this level of fear sometimes to facilitate the existing procedures [with regard to] sanctions," said IFRC Under-Secretary-General for Operations Coordination Xavier Castellanos.

Syria wound up dismissing the US sanctions waiver as "misleading".

"The misleading decision taken by the US administration to temporarily ease some of the cruel and unilateral sanctions on the Syrian nation is out of sham and hypocrisy and is no different from previous gestures meant to convey an erroneous humanitarian impression," said the Syrian Foreign Ministry on Friday.

"While the sanctions waiver is proclaimed to allow the flow of humanitarian aid, the realities on the ground prove the opposite," Damascus added.

It added, “US coercive measures and policies have deprived Syrians of their natural wealth, which is being plundered, and have created obstacles for state institutions to improve living standards, implement development projects and achieve targeted goals, and provide basic services.”

Moreover, Syrian Special Presidential Advisor Bouthaina Shaaban said Western countries are not providing necessary aid to the Syrian government, which is dealing with the fallout of the devastating earthquake and only sending them to areas in Syria that are controlled by militant terrorist groups.

"Unfortunately, the West only cares about areas where the terrorists are - where the White Helmets are - but they do not care about the areas in which most Syrian people live... Most of the money and all of the equipment have been dispatched to Turkey from Europe and from the US. Nothing to Syria from Europe, at all," Shaaban told British broadcaster Sky News.

Turkey-Syria Earthquake

Thousands have been killed and tens of thousands injured after a powerful earthquake rocked Turkey and Syria on Monday. The magnitude 7.8 quake was one of the strongest to strike the area in more than a century. Rescue workers are digging through debris in freezing conditions, while the death toll is on the rise.