By Saadet Gokce
ISTANBUL (AA) - China on Thursday urged the US to lift sanctions on Cuba and expressed support for the Cuban people to defend their "sovereignty and dignity."
"China will continue supporting the Cuban people in choosing the development path suitable to Cuba's national conditions, defending sovereignty and dignity, opposing external interference and blockade," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a news conference in Beijing.
The UN General Assembly is scheduled to vote next week for a non-binding draft resolution calling for an end to the "economic, trade, and financial blockade" imposed by the US on Cuba.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on Wednesday that Washington was "coercing" countries to "modify their position" on the resolution.
Guo urged Washington to "lift its blockade, remove Cuba from the so-called list of state sponsors of terrorism, and do more things conducive to the improvement of Cuba-US relations, and to peace and development of the region."
The six decades of a sweeping US blockade have "devastated" the lives of the Cuban people, he said.
"Instead of reflecting upon what it has done, the US now goes even further in its coercive diplomacy," Guo added.
"This seriously violates international law and the basic norms governing international relations, goes against international humanitarian principles, puts itself on the opposite side of justice and will certainly be rejected by the international community."