China’s Wang Yi: "We cannot tolerate killing a sovereign nation’s leader and inciting regime change" [US strikes on Iran]

[Financial News] Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China and concurrently Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, commented on September 1 on the death of Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Hosseini Khamenei in attacks by the United States and Israel. He declared, "We cannot tolerate acts that kill the leader of a sovereign nation and incite regime change."
According to Xinhua News Agency, Wang Yi made these remarks in a phone call the same day with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He said, "China has upheld the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations (UN Charter) and has opposed the use of force in international relations."
He stressed in particular, "It is unacceptable that the United States and Israel attacked Iran during the course of negotiations between Iran and the United States," adding, "Openly eliminating the leader of a sovereign nation and encouraging regime change violates international law and the basic norms governing international relations."
Wang Yi noted that as the front line spreads across the Persian Gulf region, the situation in the Middle East is entering a dangerous phase, and said that China is deeply concerned about this. He then set out China’s position, calling for an immediate halt to military actions, a swift return to dialogue and negotiations, and joint opposition to unilateral actions.
He also said, "We must prevent the war from expanding and stop the situation from spinning out of control," emphasizing that "attacking a sovereign nation without authorization from the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) undermines the international order that has taken shape since World War II."
In response, Lavrov said, "The military actions of the United States and Israel are seriously damaging stability in the Middle East," and added, "Russia shares the same position as China." He went on, "We will step up coordination through multilateral platforms such as the United Nations (UN) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and will call for an immediate end to the war and a return to diplomatic negotiations."
en1302@fnnews.com Jang In-seo Reporter