On June 22, 2017, when jointly meeting the press with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi of Jordan, Foreign Minister Wang Yi expounded China’s stance on the Middle East issue.

Wang Yi said that without the stability in the Middle East, there will be no peace in the world. The prolonged unrest in the Middle East not only harms various countries in the region, but also impacts world peace and development. China sincerely hopes that the Middle East could restore peace and stability at an early date. The hotspot issues that perplexed the Middle East have tangled conflicts of nations, religious sects and geographical conflicts, which cannot be solved through military means and have to, through political means, seek out a solution that conforms to the actual conditions in the region and takes the interests of all parties into consideration. During this process, all parties should safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of directly concerned countries, adhere to the UN’s role as a main channel, and respect the legitimate demands of regional countries. Forcibly advancing regime change and landscape changes of regional countries from outside will only escalate existing conflicts and turmoils, and add more chaos to regional situation.

Wang Yi expressed that China supports the enhancement of international and regional anti-terror cooperation. After suffering huge blows, some terrorist forces have been spreading to other areas in the Middle East as well as the whole world. The international community should form greater concerted efforts to consolidate the achievements of anti-terrorism made so far and well control the risk of terrorist spillover. Meanwhile, China advocates actively exploring economic development approaches. Turmoil in the Middle East is rooted in development, and the way out ultimately lies in development. China calls on the international community to pay more attention to the development in the Middle East and support regional countries in independently exploring development paths that conform to respective national conditions. The Chinese side is willing to, under the framework of the joint construction of the “Belt and Road”, enhance practical cooperation with various countries in the Middle East including Jordan, so as to make contributions to realizing development and prosperity in the Middle East and eradicating the soil that breeds terrorism.

Wang Yi said that as the largest developing country, China will mainly focus on its own development and national rejuvenation. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China will also fulfill its due international obligations. Different people have different views on China’s role in the Middle East issue. However, what I want to stress is China’s role in the Middle East issue is definitely a constructive one. China pursues no geographical interests and seeks no sphere of influence in the Middle East, and will not be partial to any party. The Chinese side stands ready to adhere to the objective and impartial stance to push forward the political settlement of regional hotspot issues. China has always been the most reliable friend of Arab countries.