China Backs International Cooperation on Somali Pirates

China backed the international community to enhance their cooperation on prosecution and imprisonment of Somali pirates and called for more assistance to address the humanitarian needs in the eastern African country, a senior Chinese diplomat said at United Nations on Tuesday.

Addressing an open meeting of the UN Security Council on piracy in Somalia, Wang Min, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, said effective prosecution of the criminal act of piracy and imprisonment of perpetrators of pirate act is an important link in combating piracy in Somalia.

"Based on the current international legal framework and the relevant Security Council resolutions, China supported the international community to enhance cooperation on prosecution and imprisonment of Somali pirates, " Wang said.

To tackle the piracy in Somali needs to address both the symptoms and root causes of the problem, he noted.

A comprehensive strategy should be adopted in order to promote such issues as politics, economics, security and humanity in balance, Wang added.

Wang stressed that the international community should positively respond to the appeal of Somalia and provide more assistance to the country.

Somalia has been in crisis for some twenty years and is currently threatened by acute drought conditions. The eastern African country has some of the worst humanitarian conditions that exist and has the world's largest displaced population.

(Xinhua News Agency January 25, 2011)