China implored Palestine and Israel Thursday to end their conflict immediately and work with the international community to resume peace talks.
China opposes Israel's abuse of military force on Palestine and any form of violence against innocent civilians, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said during Thursday's news briefing.
Sun said the peace talks could be re-established on the basis of agreements and common understanding the two countries have already achieved.
Sun reiterated China's stand of ending Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory and resuming Palestine's legitimate rights based on United Nations (UN) resolutions while guaranteeing the security of Israel.
The land-for-peace principle and the results of the peaceful negotiation should be respected, Sun said.
China also called on the international community to devote more time to resolving the Middle East conflict. And it called on the UN to play a bigger role in peace-seeking efforts.
The stance was reaffirmed by Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan during his visit to the Middle East at the end of last year.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat wrote to Chinese President Jiang Zemin on Tuesday to tell him about the latest developments in the Middle East.
Arafat told Jiang that the Palestine would continue to honour its commitment to the ceasefire so as to keep the region stable, Sun said.
Arafat also appealed to China to use its influence, together with that of the international community, to prevent the conflict from worsening, Sun said.
Turning to the crackdown on East Turkistan terrorists, Sun said terrorism is the No 1 public enemy of mankind.
East Turkistan terrorists have long been trained, financed and supported by Osama bin Laden and his terrorist organization, Sun said.
"We have plenty of evidence showing that they have carried out all kinds of terrorist activities in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and other countries at the cost of lives of innocent civilians,'' Sun said.
He said that East Turkistan joined Taliban forces in the fight in Afghanistan.
"This indicates that East Turkistan terrorists are part of the international terrorist force,'' Sun said.
China is determined to crackdown on the East Turkistan terrorists, Sun said.
"We hope and believe that the international community, including the United States, will offer China support and co-ordination in its fight against terrorism,'' he said.
(China Daily January 25, 2002)
