With more than 30 years of involvement in the work related to the Middle East issue, China's new special envoy to the Middle East Wu Sike said on Tuesday that he'll employ his personal experience on the region to help fulfill his mission.
Wu arrived in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday, starting the second leg of his first regional tour as China's new special envoy.
Upon his arrival, Wu told Xinhua that Chinese and Palestinian peoples have a traditional friendship, China has been long supporting the righteous Palestinian cause, with the positive sign emerged recently on the peace issue, China, along with the international community, is concerned on how to revive the peace process and push forward the process toward a final solution.
With this concern, Wu said the aim of his trip is to know the attitude and response of all sides involved in the peace process on the newly emerged situation, lay out China's stance on the issue, and exert efforts to boost the process with all sides in coordination.
Touching upon the issue of the internal Palestinian dispute between factions, mainly the rival Fatah and Hamas, Wu said Palestinian unity is crucial to solve the Middle East issue.
"Hamas is a major Palestinian faction, which enjoys strong public support," said the envoy, adding that, "it'll be important if Hamas can take an positive attitude toward the peace process and involved in it."
Wu said China is willing to see the success of the internal Palestinian dialogue, and is ready to make efforts on helping Palestinians to achieve national unity.
Wu, former Chinese ambassador to Egypt, was appointed as the special envoy in March this year to replace Sun Bigan.
He has been director of the Department of West Asian and North African Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and also the first Chinese plenipotentiary to the Arab League.
Citing his three-decade long diplomatic experiences in the region, Wu said that he witnessed both the disasters and losses caused by conflicts and the development, stability and opportunities brought by peace tracks between countries in the region.
"The contrast between the two tracks makes me convinced that military confront could not bring about the resolution of the Middle East issue, and the only way out is through peaceful negotiations," said the envoy.
Bearing the belief, the envoy said he will discuss both his personal experience and China's stance on the Middle East issue with all sides during his mediation, and actively involve in the peace process to fulfill his mission.
(Xinhua News Agency June 24, 2009)
