Dialogue key to solving unrest in Syria: FM

Liu said UN actions should be conducive to easing tension, pushing political dialogue, resolving differences and maintaining peace and stability in the Middle East, rather than complicating the issue.

Zhang Xiaodong, secretary-general of the China Association for Middle-Eastern Studies, said the league's determination to oust Assad is very firm, and there is no going back since the league's watchdog group has made no essential progress and some gulf states have recalled their ambassadors to Syria.

The request to establish a joint UN-Arab League peacekeeping force also represents a global trend over the crisis, Zhang said.

"The most likely result is that the league carries out military operations with countries of similar purposes," he said. "These operations may not be dominated by the US ... and the military task should be completed by European countries by establishing no-fly zones and carrying out bombings, since the league does not have the strength" to do it.

Zhang said the United States is being very cautious and is in no hurry to launch a military strike because international pressure can still be used against Syria.

China cannot block the league if it uses force against Assad's rule, Zhang Xiaodong said. But the statement was just an excuse because the peacekeeping force, which would separate governmental forces and the opposition, might objectively protect Assad, and the US would not accept it.

Ye Hailin, a professor in international relations at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, agreed with Zhang, saying that the US strategically gains less than the league on the issue of toppling the Syrian regime.

It was also a difficult decision for the league to make because there have been differences in opinion among member states over the unrest in Syria, Ye said.