UN-Arab League Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi has expressed hope that China will play an active role in resolving the turmoil in Syria.Brahimi said during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in Beijing on Wednesday that he hoped China “can play an active role in solving the events in Syria.” Meanwhile, Yang expressed gratitude to the UN-Arab League envoy’s efforts and hoped the talks in Beijing will contribute to resolving the crisis in Syria and the “appropriate handling of the Syrian issue.” China and Russia have been advocating peaceful solutions to the issue of Syria and oppose any Western-backed military intervention in the country. Beijing and Moscow vetoed a Western-backed draft resolution in July, which called for new sanctions against the Syrian government. On October 29, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for negotiations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a proposal that was criticized by his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu.“Hardly anything will be accomplished without dialogue with the government, and that is the only problem that remains in the path towards a political process,” Lavrov said after a meeting with Brahimi in Moscow on the same day. Syria has been the scene of unrest since March 2011 and many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed in the turmoil.