Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (R) meets with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in NEOM, Saudi Arabia, March 24, 2021. (Xinhua/Tu Yifan)
IMPLEMENTATION OF PEACE INITIATIVE
During his visit to Saudi Arabia, Wang unveiled a five-point initiative for achieving security and stability in the Middle East, which calls for advocating mutual respect, upholding equity and justice, achieving non-proliferation, jointly fostering collective security, and accelerating development cooperation.
The initiative was well received by many of the state leaders and foreign ministers during the visit, Wang said, noting that the Palestinian Foreign Ministry issued a statement expressing willingness to cooperate with China to revive the stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.
He elaborated on the ways to implement the peace initiative through close communication and coordination with all the related parties:
Firstly, China fully supports the international mediation over the two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. When taking the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in May, China will push for holding full deliberation of this issue, and will host a seminar for Palestinian and Israeli peace activists on a proper date.
Secondly, China will continue its active participation in the process of resolving the Iranian nuclear issue. China has sent officials to Moscow to discuss with Russia and Iran the roadmap and timetable of reviving the nuclear deal. Also, China will keep close communication with Gulf countries over holding multilateral forums in China on the Gulf security, starting from easy topics such as safeguarding oil infrastructure and shipping-lane security.
Thirdly, China will boost vaccine cooperation with Mideast countries in a bid to help them speed up the return to normal life, promote recovery of local economies, and ensure smooth implementation of major projects with the Chinese participation.
Fourthly, China will hold in 2021 the China-Arab Reform and Development Forum and the Middle East Security Forum to enhance exchanges of experience in governance, promote dialogues between civilizations, and deepen cooperation on fighting terrorism and de-radicalization.
FUTURE ANTI-PANDEMIC COOPERATION
Facing the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Mideast countries join hands in the fight against it, which has sublimated their friendship, deepened mutual trust, and opened up new areas of cooperation, Wang said.
The Chinese government has practically fulfilled its solemn commitment to making vaccines a global public good, donating and exporting nearly 38 million doses of vaccines to 17 countries in the Middle East, Wang noted.
He said China is willing to work with the countries in the Middle East to push forward the anti-epidemic cooperation:
Firstly, China will step up vaccine cooperation with countries in the Middle East and continue to donate and export vaccines to the region to the best of its ability.
Secondly, China will promote the establishment of an international mechanism for mutual recognition of health codes to facilitate personnel exchanges.
Thirdly, China and Mideast countries will continue to build consensus on preventing the politicization of pandemic from reemerging, and make the vaccines available and affordable to all countries.
