Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Weimin has reiterated China's position on Syria. He called on the international community to help to ease the tensions through political means.

Liu said, "The international community should promote a political solution to the Syria crisis. We should fully support United Nations (UN) Envoy Annan's peaceful mission in the country, and maintain peace in the Middle East."

In a televised speech to the new parliament on Sunday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said his country is facing a "real war." He said Syria is being torn apart by terrorism but there will be no letup fighting against it. The president said the doors of Damascus were open for dialogue with the opposition, but only as long as the parties involved have no foreign agendas and have not been involved in terrorism.

Dong Manyuan, researcher of China Institute of International Studies , said "Clearly Assad's speech wasn't well received by the opposition, or the West, or the UN. It has made little difference to the Syria situation."

In his speech Assad also expressed horror over the Houla massacre. More than 100 people, nearly half of them children, were killed in the bloodshed in late May. It was one of the deadliest single events in the 15-month unrest against the government. The opposition and the government have accused each other of the killings, while more than 10 Western countries have expelled Syrian diplomas to protest against the slaughter.

Dong said, "Expelling diplomats could very well be a forecast for Western military intervention. The domestic opposition alone does not have the ability to overthrow the government, but if foreign troops come in and remove Assad, it will be the real beginning of chaos for Syria. The long domestic conflicts over resources, power as well as sectarian strife will all explode into a full-scale disaster. And it will be the Syrian people who suffer the most."

(CNTV.cn June 4, 2012)