The Syrian crisis needs a political solution, not a military one, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Chinese state media in Beijing on Tuesday.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON SAYING:
"A quarter of population, of total population in Syria have been affected and they need urgent humanitarian assistance. We cannot go on like this (in this) way, this is an unacceptable situation in terms of political tragedy, in terms of humanitarian situation and human rights' abuses."
Ban made the comments to official broadcaster CCTV in Beijing the day before he was due to the meet Xi Jinping for the first time since he became China's president in March.
