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China has proposed a three-phase approach to solving the Rohingya refugee crisis involving Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi outlined China's position at a news conference with Myanmar's State Counselor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi on Sunday.
The first phase, Wang said, is to achieve a ceasefire so that local residents can no longer be displaced. Through joint efforts, the ceasefire has been in place.
Secondly, the international community should encourage Myanmar and Bangladesh to keep talking in a bid to find a feasible solution, he said.
The two countries have reached an initial agreement on the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of refugees who have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar's Rakhine state.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) meets with Myanmar's State Counselor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, on November 19, 2017.
The third phase is to find a long-term solution. Stressing that poverty is the root cause of turbulence and conflict, the Chinese foreign minister called on the international community to support poverty alleviation efforts in Rakhine state.
China believed that the Rakhine issue can be addressed by a solution acceptable to both Myanmar and Bangladesh through consultations between the two neighboring countries, Wang told the news conference.
The international community and the United Nations Security Council should encourage such efforts by creating conditions and good atmosphere for the consultations, he said.
The Chinese top diplomat said the Bangladesh government pledged to continue bilateral talks with Myanmar over the issue when he visited Dhaka on Saturday. Myanmar also expressed the same attitude, he said.
The Rakhine issue, he continued, is a complicated one touching on history, ethnicity and religion that calls for both an urgent and long-term solution.
Development can lead to stability, Wang said, adding that China's three-pronged proposal had been backed by both Bangladesh and Myanmar.
The Chinese foreign minister will participate in the 13th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) foreign ministers' meeting in Nay Pyi Daw on Monday and Tuesday.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
