On the afternoon of January 20, 2009, Sun Bigan, China's Special Envoy to the Middle East, held a briefing for domestic and international journalists and information officers of foreign embassies in China on his visit to the Middle East at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Jiang Yu, Deputy Director-General of the Information Department hosted the briefing.

Sun Bigan said, “I visited Egypt, Israel and Palestine successively from January 12 to 15 and met separately with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Egyptian Intelligence Minister Gen. Omar Suleiman, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States (LAS) Amr Mahmoud Moussa, Israeli President Shimon Peres, Israeli Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog and other Israeli officials, and President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abba.”

As the conflict in Gaza keeps on escalating since the end of last year, the humanitarian situation there continues to worsen, causing widespread concern in the international community. The Chinese government is deeply concerned about it. Though the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1860, the conflicting parties haven’t reached a ceasefire. It is under such a context that I paid a visit to the Middle East. The purpose of my trip is to promote peaceful talks, urge ceasefire, and raise a five-point proposal on the current situation in Gaza and the Middle East. The five points are as follows: first, the parties concerned are requested to abide by Security Council Resolution 1860 and immediately cease all military actions to prevent more casualties; second, efforts should be made to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Stable channels need to be opened as soon as possible for the provision of food, medicine, fuel and other humanitarian aids to Gaza and the parties concerned should make the necessary safeguards; third, the parties concerned should negotiate on the establishment of a long-term supervisory mechanism for the ceasefire in Gaza and make efforts to create a situation of sustainable security and stability; fourth, the parties concerned should resume the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks as soon as possible and seek solutions to issues related to the final status of Palestine on the basis of mutual trust so as to realize an independent Palestinian state at an early data and the peaceful coexistence between the two states; fifth, the international community should further intensify efforts to promote peace and work out a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Middle East issue. China is willing to work together with the parties concerned to achieve this goal.

Sun Bigan said that both the leaders and the general public in China are very concerned about the situation in Gaza. The Chinese side put forward the five-point proposal out of the following basic considerations; to achieve an immediate ceasefire, to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and not to continue to victimize the innocent; the basic guarantee for avoiding the recurrence of the same tragedy is that the parties concerned, on the basis of ceasefire, should make efforts to find a long-term solution as soon as possible to issues such as the supervision of the ceasefire, security arrangements, and humanitarian relief to avoid the recurrence of wars, that the livelihood of the people of Gaza can be protected, and that the international community's assistance can reach the hands of the people of Gaza in a smooth and timely manner; the solution to the root of the issue lies in the settlement of disputes through political negotiations between Israel and Palestine, the creation of an independent Palestinian state and the peaceful coexistence between Palestine and Israel; the necessary condition for the achievement of these goals is that the international community should take the responsibilities and push forward the Middle East peace process in a more positive attitude. The Chinese side appreciates and supports the efforts made by the parties concerned to promote peace. China is willing to continue to promote peaceful talks and contribute to the peace in the Middle East.

Sun Bigan said the Palestinian-Israeli issue is very complicated. To promote the solution to this problem, the ceasefire should be achieved from the short-term perspective in light of the present situation in Gaza and a solution must be found from the source from the long-term perspective. Both the symptoms and root causes must be addressed. During the visit, the parties introduced the situation and their views, spoke positively of the five-point proposal raised by China and the efforts made by China to ease the situation in Gaza and highly praised the positive role played by China for the peace process in the Middle East. LAS Secretary-General Amr Mahmoud Moussa considered the five-point proposal very important and said that he would communicate the propositions to all Arab countries.

After the briefing, Sun Bigan took questions from reporters.

Q: Please tell us some of your impressions during your trip to the Middle East.

A: One of my most profound impressions during the trip is that the war is relentless and innocent civilians are the worst victims. As the Chinese government’s special envoy to the Middle East, I am deeply concerned of and distressed by the development of the situation in Gaza. The people in the Middle East have experienced so much suffering caused by wars and can no longer stand more tears and blood. The parties concerned must take the responsibility and do their utmost to maintain the ceasefire and alleviate the humanitarian crisis. Resuming the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks as soon as possible, creating an independent Palestinian state at an early date and realizing the peaceful co-existence of the two states, Palestine and Israel, are the fundamental ways to avoid the recurrence of such a conflict. The conflict in Gaza once again highlighted that the Palestine issue is the core of the Middle East issues for two reasons. On one hand, if this issue cannot be properly resolved, its negative impact will radiate to the entire region. On the other hand, there are lots of hot issues in the Middle East, which are complex and interrelated. An integrated and comprehensive thinking must be considered in order to create favorable external conditions for the comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue. The international community's peace efforts are very important. For some time now, diplomatic activities aiming at addressing around the conflict in Gaza are very active. The achievement of the ceasefire is the result of joint efforts of the international community. China will continue to make efforts for the peace in the Middle East.

Q: Does China intend to have direct dialogues with Hamas?

A: The existence of Hamas is a fact. We do not agree with some of the policy claims advocated by Hamas and we have called on Hamas to proceed from the fundamental interests of the Palestinian people and join the Middle East peace process.

Q: What special and important roles can China play in the Middle East peace process? Can China play a role in providing humanitarian assistance?

A: China keeps a close eye on the situation in the Middle East. China maintains good relations with all the Arab countries in the Middle East. The establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Israel was not very long, but the two sides have normal and friendly exchanges. We sincerely hope that some of the region's hot issues, especially the Arab-Israeli conflicts, could be resolved, peace can be achieved and the development of the region can be realized.

The Middle East region has a long history and rich resources. If peace can be achieved in the region, it will not only benefit regional development, but also contribute to world peace and stability. We have always advocated that the Arab and Israeli sides should carry out peace negotiations and settle their disputes by political means on the basis of the relevant resolutions of the United Nations and the principle of land for peace. This is the only way to achieve regional peace and stability. China, as one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, is always concerned about the region's peace and development. We have taken a just position and tried our best to promote the conflict resolution in the region and push forward the continuous development of the peace cause in the Middle East. The Chinese leaders and the Chinese government attach great attention to the developments in the Middle East. Since the outbreak of the conflict in Gaza, the Chinese side has been making efforts to ease the situation and alleviate the humanitarian crisis. The Chinese side provided USD one million emergency humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian National Authority in the shortest possible time.

Next, the Chinese side will continue to follow closely the development of the situation and promote peaceful talks in different ways and consider continuing to provide humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian side in our best power.

Q: Will the Chinese side have direct engagement with Hamas only after Hamas changes its political views? Do you think that other countries should isolate Hamas?

A: I have already talked about this issue. The existence of Hamas is a fact. We do not agree with some of the policy claims advocated by Hamas and we have been always calling on Hamas to proceed from the fundamental interests of the Palestinian people and join the Middle East peace process. Both history and reality have proven that force can neither solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflicts nor bring a lasting peace to any party. We advocate resolving the issue through peaceful negotiations.