PARIS (NNN-XINHUA) -- China supports France's active efforts on the Palestinian issue for their similar stance in advocating the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, says the Chinese special envoy to the Middle East, Wu Sike. Palestine has been under huge pressure mounting from home and abroad since last summer when peace talks between Palestine and Israel stalled, and it therefore plans to unilaterally seek the recognition as an independent state with its capital based in East Jerusalem during the next UN General Assembly beginning this month.
However, resorting to such a move cannot replace the role of direct peace talks between Palestine and Israel, which is the ultimate solution, said Wu.The special envoy urged Israel to make efforts for a favourable environment for peace talks and to restart peace negotiations with Palestine, saying the security of Israel can only be built on proper settlement of disputes with Palestine.
France, which is the current chair of the Group of 20 (G20) leading developed and emerging economies, as well as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, shares a similar stance on Palestinian issues with China, said the envoy.Therefore, his visit to Paris is aimed at exchanging views on Mideast issues and tuning positions with France on the Palestine-Israel peace process, Wu said.
He added that China supported the active effort France was making on Mideast issues and was willing to make its contribution in promoting peace and stability in the region with all concerned parties.Paris is the last leg of Wu's current four-state tour of the Middle East and Europe, following stops in Palestine, Israel and Egypt. During his stay in Paris, Wu had talks with the president's counsellor on Mideast affairs and the foreign ministry official in charge of Mideast region.On the same day, at the annual ambassadors' conference, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he would try to persuade all 27 EU members to recognize a Paleatinian state, and make the bloc speak in "one voice" on the issue.
The political unrest and power shifts in the Mideast and the North Africa following the Tunisian revolution this spring has somehow watered down the attention the international community pays to Mideast peace process, but it will not downgrade the importance of the issue, Wu said, citing the strategic impact of Palestine-Israel peace to the region.In the long-term, the growing participation of Arab citizens in political activities can work as stimulus in solving Palestine-Israel problems, Wu noted. -- NNN-XINHUA
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