BEIJING, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- The Chinese government said it is working to disable Syria's chemical weapons program while at the same time pressing for a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, based in The Hague, Netherlands, requested two chemical weapons experts from China join their mission in Syria.
Yang said they were called to The Hague first and then would head later to Syria, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday.
A joint United Nations-OPCW mission said Thursday it completed the destruction of critical equipment in Syria used to manufacture chemical weapons. The OPCW said two of the 23 sites declared by the Syrian government were listed as abandoned and the material there transferred to declared sites.
Both parties to the conflict in Syria have been accused of using chemical weapons during a civil war that's lasted more than two years.
Divisions among members of the U.N. Security Council have interrupted efforts to find a solution to the crisis at the world body. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Si said the domestic, regional and international community needed to find a way to work together to find a political solution to the conflict.
