Chinese President Jiang Zemin announced yesterday during his meeting with Syrian Vice President Abdul-Halim Khaddam that China will continue to support the “just cause” of the Arab people and work for peace in the Middle East. According to the Xinhua News Agency, Jiang also expressed his country’s support for Syria’s demands to regain the entire Golan Heights and welcomed the development of relations with Damascus.
President Jiang criticized the hegemony and unipolar policy pursued by the U.S. administration and called on developing countries to cooperate in confronting this policy. Khaddam conveyed Syria’s keenness to develop relations between the two countries and peoples, expressing hope that China would play a larger role in resolving the region’s issues. The Chinese President thanked President Assad for Syria’s supportive stance on China’s positions.
Khaddam also met yesterday with the President of the National People’s Congress of China, Li Peng, discussing the situation in the region and the world, as well as ways to enhance bilateral relations between the two friendly countries. During the meeting, Peng emphasized that the arrival of Sharon in power in Israel complicated the possibility of a peaceful solution based on international legitimacy and the land-for-peace principle. He pointed out that the leniency of the new U.S. government towards Sharon’s policy has further complicated matters. Peng also criticized U.S. hegemonic policy.
During the meeting, Khaddam presented a comprehensive overview of the political situation in the region and stressed that the Sharon government bears full responsibility for obstructing the peace process and pushing the region into a new spiral of violence and instability.