Chinese envoy urges end to US embargo against Cuba

UNITED NATIONS - A Chinese envoy said Wednesday that the United States should end its embargo against Cuba.

"All countries should uphold the process of mutual understanding and development for all peoples," said Ma Zhaoxu, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, at a UN General Assembly meeting on the nearly six-decade blockade imposed on the Caribbean island by Washington.

"The international community must tackle issues together," he said, urging Washington to cease the unilateral coercive measure, which has been reinforced during US President Donald Trump's administration.

The General Assembly has adopted resolutions repeatedly to have the embargo dropped, yet it still has not ended, said the ambassador, noting that the blockade "is contrary to the principle of the United Nations Charter and cause huge financial and economic damage for Cuba."

"It hinders Cuba's ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals," Ma noted.

In its annual report to the UN, Havana indicated that economic losses due to the US blockade totaled more than 4.3 billion US dollars between April 2017 and March of this year.