BBC News with Julie Candler
In what correspondents describe as a
dramatic
escalation of American pressure on Syria, the US has imposed its first ever sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad. Washington says he and eight others have been targeted for violence and repression during the two-month uprising in Syria. The State Department spokesman Mark Toner said it was time to increase the pressure on President Assad.
"I think we're looking at what next steps, what possible additional pressure we can provide really to
crystallise
our message to the Syrian government, which is that your current behaviour is unacceptable and the violence must stop. The Syrian government has talked a lot about reform, has made a lot of promises but done very little. So again, we're trying to seek additional ways to apply pressure on them."
Earlier, President Assad said the Syrian security forces had made mistakes in their handling of the protests, while the BBC received new reports of army attacks on civilians.
A senior Chinese army general, Chen Bingde, has said China has no intention of attempting to match US military power.
Speaking in Washington at the National Defense University, General Chen said that the United States military forces were far more advanced than their Chinese counterparts.
He said there was a 20-year difference between US and Chinese military capabilities, but that China's military forces had improved