China on Monday called upon all parties concerned to commit to political talks in order to realize the comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in the Middle East.

The appeal came as Liu Zhenmin, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, was speaking at an open debate of the UN Security Council on the Middle East.

"Under the current situation, political negotiations remain to be the only correct path to the realization of lasting peace in the Middle East," Liu said. "We believe that only with an agreement reached by all parties through the negotiations can the peace process be irreversible."

"We hope that all parties can proceed from the overall interest of themselves and regional peace and stability to commit to dialogue so as to realize the comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in the Middle East and avoid taking any actions that might lead to a tenser situation in the Middle East again," said the Chinese diplomat.

"The realization of the inter-Palestinian reconciliation is critical to the safeguard of the Palestinian people's interest and the resumption of the peace process in the Middle East," he said. "We appreciate the efforts made by Egypt to this end and we hope that the parties in Palestine can set store by their long-time national interests and solve their differences through dialogue and realize reconciliation and establish a national unity government."

"To realize peaceful coexistence of the two states of Palestine and Israel is the ultimate way out for the settlement of the Palestine and Israel issue," he said.

"We support the realization of the two-state solution on the basis of the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, the Arab Peace Initiative and the Principle of Land for Peace," he said. "This not only calls for efforts of the parties concerned, but it all needs more of the support and help of the international community."

"All the parties should try their best to encourage Palestine and Israel to deal with their challenges in a positive way and to persevere in their efforts for realizing the two states of Palestine and Israel and Arab people and Jewish people living in peace through negotiations," he said.

Over the past six months, "the peace process in the Middle East has witnessed twists and turns," Liu noted.

At the turn of the year, the war in Gaza has claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians, caused serious property loss, and made the situation more tense and vulnerable, he said.

"The Security Council adopted Resolution 1860, leading to the cease of hostilities between Israel and Palestine, and also created conditions for the re-launching of the peace process; however, what is disturbing is that this resolution has not been fully and effectively implemented," he said. "The humanitarian situation in Gaza is still very serious and the progress of reconstruction is very slow."

"We call on all parties concerned to fully and consciously implement Resolution 1860 and avoid taking any actions that could once again make the situation tense," he said. "We call on Israel to open up all the crossing points ... to ensure that reconstruction in Gaza can proceed smoothly. The international community should materialize their pledges as soon as possible to help the Gaza people normalize their lives."

At the same time, "the situation in other occupied Palestinian territories are also a source of concern," Liu said.

"The situation of the Palestinian people of the West Bank is still tense and they cannot enjoy a dignified life," he said. "We express our deep concern through all this. We urge Israel to consciously make responses to the call ... of the international community to stop the construction of the separating wall and settlements."

Other questions in the Middle East are also important components of the peace process in the region, said the ambassador. "We are pleased to see that the political and security in Lebanon has somewhat improved and they have held out the legislative election in June. It is our hope that Lebanon can form the new government as soon as possible."

"We respect the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Lebanon and we would like to express our concern for the multiple security incidents that took place lately in southern Lebanon and we call on all parties concerned to fully implement Security Council Resolution 1701," he said. "We encourage all the parties concerned can create conditions for the resumption of negotiations between Syria and Israel."

"China has always been committed to the promotion of the peace process in the Middle East and we welcome all the initiatives that are conducive to the peace process," he said.

"We support the initiative of the Russian delegation for convening an international conference on the question of the Middle East in Moscow within this year," he said. "We encourage the Quartet, Arab countries to play an important role to push the parties concerned to resume serious and direct negotiations as soon as possible."

The Quartet, composed of the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States, is the diplomatic group in search of peace in the Middle East.

"It is our hope that the Security Council will remain more actively seized of the question of the Middle East," said Liu. "We are ready to join the efforts of the rest of the international community to continue to make unremitting efforts for the realization of the comprehensive, just, and lasting peace."

(Xinhua News Agency July 28, 2009)