Beijing: China said a move by a war crimes court to reconsider adding genocide charges for Sudanese Presiden Omar Al Bashir could hurt the peace process.
Foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said the situation in Sudan was at a "complex, sensitive and critical" stage and such a move by the International Criminal Court (ICC) could "disturb or even damage the cooperative atmosphere."
"Concerned sides" are trying to push forward the Doha peace talks between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebel groups, he said in a statement on Friday, according to Xinhua news agency.
Sudan is due to hold elections in April and a referendum on self-determination for the south in January 2011.
Ma stressed that China had expressed "deep concern" since the start of proceedings against Al Bashir in 2008, together with "some African and Arabic developing countries, as well as regional organisations such as the African Union and the League of Arab States," Xinhua reported.
The African Union said on Friday the ICC's move harmed the peace process in Sudan.
An ICC appeals chamber on Wednesday ordered a review of Al Bashir's arrest warrant for alleged atrocities in the war-torn western Sudanese province of Darfur.
It directed judges to reconsider their decision to omit genocide from the warrant issued in March last year, saying they had made "an error in law."
