China: Shipping of Syria's chemical weapons helpful

The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Wednesday that the transportation of the chemical weapons out of Syria in a timely and fast manner will help the destruction process of these weapons. Her comments came after a Danish vessel, which took chemicals from two sites in Syria, left the western Syrian port of Latakia on Tuesday, a week after the December 31 deadline of shipping the most critical chemicals out of the country. Chinese frigate Yancheng also entered the territorial waters of Syria on Tuesday and is in close coordination with naval vessels from Russia, Denmark and Norway, in escorting the transport of the chemical weapons. "China will continue to work with other parties to ensure the secure and smooth transport of the weapons," Hua told a press statement carried by Chinese News Agency (Xinhua). The deadline for destroying Syria's entire chemical weapons program is June 30.