In his first visit to the region this week, China's Special Envoy for the Middle East Zhai Jun made sure to remain upbeat despite the daunting task he and other peace envoys face.
Speaking with the media on Monday, Zhai said that he has been in Israel before throughout his long career in the People's Republic of China's Foreign Ministry but it was still very special for him to arrive once more, about two months into his new job.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
"When I was in charge of Middle Eastern affairs at the Foreign Ministry, I visited Israel many times and I am very happy to be back to this country this time, to see a lot of change has taken place," he said. "Our two countries established a comprehensive innovation partnership in 2017, we have seen a lot of developments and growth in this relationship and the results of our cooperation have been felt and seen everywhere," he said with great pride.
Israel and China established official diplomatic relations only in 1992, and over the past 15 years, the bilateral ties have expanded like never before, resulting in ever-expanding trade and growing tourism from both sides.
China, which holds a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, sees itself as a major player in world affairs, and as such, wants to be seen and heard. The appointment of the Zhai as the envoy, the fifth since the position was created, demonstrates China wants to help broker peace, despite this role historically been assigned to the US.
"Over the past two days I went to Ramallah and had a meeting with chief [Palestinian] negotiator Saeb Erekat. Yesterday I also had a meeting with [Israeli] Foreign Minister Israel Katz, and the discussions went on very well, and my impression is that both sides have the willingness to solve Palestinian-Israeli conflict through peaceful means," Zhai said, adding that "Israel and Palestine are both friends to China, and China sincerely hopes that the issues [in the peace process] will be resolved in a fair, reasonable and sustained way to provide both people with a tranquil life."
Asked about the impact of another early election in Israel, he said that China's policies were independent of any particular Knesset makeup.
"It doesn't matter what the results of the elections will be, I am sure peace in the Middle East is our shared aspiration and I look forward, as the envoy for peace, to greater cooperation and a greater exchange of ideas with the Israeli friends," Zhai insisted, apparently implying that Beijing did not have a clear preference and would stay out of the race.
Zhai noted that the flagship foreign policy advocated by Beijing over the past several years, the Belt and Road Initiative, could be of great benefit to his peacemaking efforts.
As part of the BRI, China wants to invest heavily worldwide in order to establish major trade routes via rail, air and sea that would streamline the exchange of goods from all over the world and create a modern Silk Road through China. Implementing this global vision, he stressed, would make reconciliation between the warring parties in the Middle East more easily achieved.
"Peace can be facilitated when there is development. As our relations and cooperation between China and Israel are going on very well, I am sure that under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative China-Israel cooperation will only see greater potential. Israel and the wider Middle East are important participants of the Belt and Road Initiative. We have a lot of areas to tap, such as infrastructure and connectivity, and China is ready to advance the cooperation with Israel on that and I look forward to seeing more concrete outcomes regarding the cooperation between our two sides, and for me personally, I will also work hard on that. I also discussed this with Minister Katz in our meeting, and we agree on many points."
