China deeply concerned about situation in Middle East

Visiting China's Special Envoy on the Middle East Gong Xiaosheng said that China is very much concerned about the "complicated situation in the region," pointing that "Lebanon constitutes a very important station in my tour in the region."

According to the National News Agency (NNA), the envoy said following a meeting with Lebanese Foreign Affairs Minister Jebran Bassil Thursday night that "the most important goal of my visit to Lebanon is to listen to our Lebanese friends about their view of the regional developments and to enhance the cooperation between our two countries."

He added "I had a very important meeting with the FM and we exchanged our views about the complicated issues," pointing that the discussions focused on the "very dangerous situation in the Middle East."

The Chinese envoy stressed that his country is concerned about its relations and cooperation with Lebanon, adding that "we discussed how China can provide Lebanon with any assistance it needs in its fight against terrorism on its lands."

Upon his arrival to Lebanon, the envoy said that his country considers that the peoples of the Middle East "are the owners of this region and the international community must respect those people's suggestions about finding a solution to the Middle East issue."

On the international coalition established to confront the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Chinese envoy said that his country "refuses all kinds of terrorism particularly the one targeting civilians and innocents," calling the international community to "clarify its position."

As for the possibility of launching attacks against ISIL in Syria, the Chinese envoy stressed that "any actions against terrorism must take into consideration the respect of the sovereignty and integrity of any state and we believe there should be no doubts about this issue."

This is the first visit of Gong Xiaosheng to the region following his assignment to replace Wu Sike.