China committed to boosting Mideast peace process

Beijing is proactive in advancing the Mideast peace process, said Wu Sike, China's special envoy to the region.

Wu made the remarks on the sidelines of the UN International Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace, which is being held here on June 18-19 and brought together officials and experts from more than 50 countries and international organizations.

It is the first time for the country to host the annual UN event, which draws global attention, he said.

Both Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited China in May, part of China's widely-lauded efforts in boosting the Mideast peace process and reviving talks between Israel and the Palestinians, Wu said.

The envoy noted that China has been working hard to push for an all-round, fair solution to the Palestinian issue.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's four-point proposal on solving the issue, which was unveiled during his meeting with Abbas, fully embodies the importance placed by the new Chinese leadership on the peace process, Wu said.

The proposal also shows an open diplomatic style on hot-spot issues, as well as China's assumption of global responsibilities as a world power, he added.

The Chinese diplomacy is a combination of principles and flexibility, Wu said, so while firmly supporting the Palestinian right to statehood, China also insists on solving the issue via negotiations and stresses that Israel's security concerns should be understood and respected.

The principle of "land for peace," relevant UN resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, which have proven to be effective in pushing forward the Israel-Palestine talks, should be upheld, Wu said.

Due to the complexity of the Palestinian issue, he said, China called at the international meeting for a gradual, pragmatic solution with the aim of tangible results, for which Beijing is making its efforts step by step.

Rejecting some Western media's speculations that China attempts to exclude the U.S. role in the Middle East, Wu said China has kept and continuously developed a sound relationship with countries in the region since the 1960s.

Within the United Nations and on various bilateral occasions, over the years the Chinese government has been committed to finding a solution to the Middle East issue and has made unremitting efforts, he said.

One of Xi's proposal for resolving the Palestinian issue calls for the international community to "provide important guarantee for progress in the peace process," Wu said.

China has neither self-serving interests in the Middle East nor any intentions to exclude others' role in the region, he said, adding that on the contrary, the country takes a positive attitude to strive for a cohesion of efforts by various parties.

The envoy said the Mideast issue is too complicated to be solved by any single country including the United States, which exerts leading influence in the region. It is not that the United States doesn't want to solve it. It just can't, he said.

Therefore, Wu said, the international community, including the United Nations, should work together on the issue. By hosting the UN meeting, Beijing is supporting the world body to play an active role on the issue.

China does not regard the issue as a "zero-sum" game and would like to see various political forces including world powers cooperate with different parties in the region, he said.