The United States, the United Kingdom, France and their allies began air strikes on Libya on March 19, which is the largest international military intervention in the Arab world since the invasion of Iraq. According to the Libyan government, the air strikes that have lasted for more than 10 days have caused serious civilian casualties, and the majority of victims are women and children.

Before Western countries launched the air strikes, many people had thought that Muammar Gaddafi's regime was on the verge of collapse, and once the air strikes began, his regime would fall apart immediately. However, contrary to these expectations, the existing Libyan government has not collapsed despite the massive bombing.

When the rebels tried to capture Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, Gaddafi armed the tribes loyal to him with weapons, and the rebel forces were repelled in the end. Tribal forces are very strong in that area, say experts familiar with the Libyan situation. Obviously, Libya is descending into a civil war, which presents a dilemma to certain Western countries: are they really determined to intervene in Libya's civil war?

Chinese President Hu Jintao told visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy on March 30, "The U.N. Security Council approved the Libya resolution only for the purpose of stopping violence and protecting civilians. The military operation in Libya could violate the Security Council's original intention if it caused civilian casualties and provoked a bigger humanitarian crisis. China advocates full respect for every country's independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity and does not approve of the use of force in international affairs. History has proved that the use of force is not an answer to problems but only makes them more complicated. Only dialogue and other peaceful means are the ultimate solution to problems."

The remarks "the use of force is not an answer to problems" are timely and profound. Two wars have taken place since the world entered into the new century: the Afghanistan war and the Iraq war. What issues have the two wars addressed? Even Americans said that the wars have addressed no issues but rather brought about numerous problems to the country. The United States will have to allocate a huge amount of time, energy and resources to solve these problems in the future.

What is more worrying is that Libya is also an Islamic state like Afghanistan and Iraq. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have intensified the clash between Christian and Islamic civilizations. Will the military attacks launched by Western countries against Libya worsen the clashes between the two civilizations?

Ever since the unrest in West Asia and North Africa began at the end of 2010, the situation there has drawn attention worldwide. This is because this region is so significant — oil reserves in the region account for 65 percent of the world's total. The turmoil in the region has resulted in the surge in oil prices and posed a negative impact on the newly-recovered world economy.

The turmoil in West Asia and North Africa has also aroused great debates around the world. China has also expressed its opinions. China's stance generally has four highlights.

First, the turmoil in the various countries of West Asia and North Africa are internal affairs. People of these countries should decide their leaders and regime by themselves and foreign countries should not interfere in the internal affairs of these countries.

Second, problems brought by the turbulence in these countries should be solved through dialogue. Violence is not advisable.

Third, the international community should make efforts to maintain the peace and stability in this area and maintain the stability of oil prices. This is also the common interest of this area and the entire world.

Fourth, the League of Arab States and the African Union should play an important role in resolving regional issues.

The four points mentioned are China's opinion among the opinions of various other countries worldwide. Hu believes history can show that these four points are in line with the trend of peaceful times, development and cooperation and are helpful in promoting the regional peace and stability of West Asia and North Africa as well as the world's peace and development.