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Wednesday, June 06, 2001
President Mubarak stressed the importance of seizing the opportunity of the current ceasefire between the Palestinians and Israelis to get the joint security committees to meet in preparation for implementing the Mitchell Committee report recommendations. Mubarak said that the US is seeking to arrange the meeting of these committees and put recommendations of the report into effect. Should this occur, the region will witness a progress in the peace process. In his interview with Yong Tian, Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese People's newspaper, President Mubarak affirmed that this must be achieved as soon as possible in order to avoid further complication of the situation since the only alternative is continuing violence and terrorism. I consider terrorism more dangerous than war. Warring parties already know their enemies and battlefield, while, in the case of terrorism, no body knows where from and when the next strike will come, Mubarak added. He elaborated that all parties concerned should be aware of this fact since the Palestinians will never waive their rights and they will continue indefinitely to claim them. Should this status quo persist, there will no stability in the region or in other parts of the world as terrorism may strike anywhere. Accordingly, intensive efforts should be exerted to implement the Mitchell report recommendations because this will give the Palestinians hope, he remarked. The President noted that the Mitchell Committee report comprises positive points such as freezing settlement building and implementing the agreements already signed between the Palestinians and Israelis. On the role of the US President George W. Bush, Mubarak said that it is a principal role and the key to resolving this issue US is the only country that is able to talk with the Israelis and urge them to come up with a solution to this serious problem. It is the country that gives Israel everything, he noted. In addition to this significant American role there are the European and Russian roles as well as the roles required from all peace-loving countries that must contribute to putting an end to this crisis. Besides, we should not ignore the role of China and its effective support to the Palestinian right. This is an undenible fact, elaborated Mubarak. About who is responsible for the eruption of violence in the region, Mubarak stressed that had Israel implemented the agreements it already signed with the Palestinian Authority, under Netanyahu and Barak, these problems would have come to an end. However, should the security committees, meet as soon as possible and of the Mitchell report recommendations be put into effect, the situation will calm down, added Mubarak. On his coming visit to China, President Mubarak said that he received an invitation from Chinese President Jiang Zimin and will visit China this year. He stressed that the Chinese President is an old friend of him and that Egypt has excellent relations with China, adding that he had earlier paid several visits to China, first of which was in 1976 when he was vice president. Answering a question on his efforts to avert violence in the region, Mubarak said that he has been giving a hand to the parties to sit together and start negotiating, given that the continuation of violence will destabilize the region and , directly and indirectly, damage foreign interests there. Following is the full text of the interview: Q: Egypt was the first Arab state to officially recognize the People’s Republic of China. As a friend of the Chinese people, who enjoys large-scale respect and appreciation in China, in view of your contributions for deepening bonds of friendship between both nations, in cooperation with Chinese leaders and on the 45th anniversary of initiating diplomatic relations between Egypt and China. How do you assess the importance of this relation? What is the most remarkable progress made in this context? What are your Excellency’s expectations of prospects of strategic cooperation between both countries in the new century? A: At the outset, I would like to confirm to you that the Egyptian people shows deep appreciation for the President, the government and the people of People’s Republic of China. We feel proud of our intimate friendship and the historical relationships binding our nations. Seven thousand years ago, two great civilizations rose on the banks of the everlasting Nile and the Yangtze. Since that very remote time, both our nations have upheld torches of enlightenment and civilization to humanity as a whole. There has been always mutual communication between both time-honored civilizations. According to scientific evidence, ancient Egyptians successfully managed to reach China by land across Sinai, Babylon and Central Asia, while their ships crossed oceans, carrying goods and products and creating bridges between peoples. In the near past, Egypt was the first Arab and African country to recognize and, starting May 1956, exchange full relations with the People’s Republic of China. This opened wide prospects for both countries to develop friendship and cooperation relations in various fields and on all levels. Over half a century, relations between both countries have been so enhanced as to become an example to be followed for relations between developing countries and South-South cooperation. It is a source of satisfaction that I have reached with my friend President Jiang Zimin an agreement to build a strategic partnership. This would contribute much to the enhancement of cooperation relationship between both countries in the short- and long-term. We should particularly bear in mind that both countries are equally keen on continually expanding and deepening long-term cooperation, based on friendship and mutual benefit. Therefore, the governments of both countries encourage authorities and institutions concerned in both Egypt and China to conduct discussions and studies addressing the evolution of their relations and their concomitant political, economic, social and cultural dimensions as well as their role in the new century. This would help deepen mutual confidence and understanding and enhance steady progress of bilateral relations in various domains. Here in Egypt both our minds and hearts are open to close cooperation with the friendly Chinese people in all fields and on all levels. Every achievement to be made in this context will add up to the close relations between both friendly countries. Q: Bilateral trade accounts for a part of Chinese-Egyptian relations. What are the opportunities of economic trade cooperation between China and Egypt? A: Economic and trade relations between Egypt and China have shown remarkable and essential progress over the past few years, particularly as it is now possible for Chinese corporations to participate in mega national projects in Egypt foremost of which are the new industrial zone northwest of the Suez Gulf as well as other major development projects spread far and wide around Egypt. In the meantime, these corporations can benefit from Egypt’s unique position, representing a meeting point with Arab, African and European markets. As you know, the investment climate in Egypt is marked with stability and ability to attract investments. It is steadily improving year by year and we are interested in providing opportunities for each investor to gain profit, because this will ensure continued viability of his investment and expansion of his activities. Under this climate, some Chinese companies have promptly engaged in Egyptian development and industrial projects. China already has a record of excellent experience and many achievements in this area. We warmly welcome cooperation between both countries as well as between Egyptian and Chinese businessmen. As to future opportunities, there are promising chances for reaching higher levels of equilibrium in trade exchange between both countries. While the Egyptian market needs several Chinese products, the Chinese market needs Egyptian products especially agricultural goods including fruits. We look forward to increasing our exports of these commodities to the Chinese market and we are working on these matters with your friendly government. Q: Over the past years, Egypt has shown essential improvement in its national economy thanks to economic reform.. Will you please brief us on the national development strategy in the new century? A: In the eighties, we launched the economic reform process under structured and phased-out plans and well-studied and well-calculated steps. We managed to safely pass through the most difficult phases without any social upheavals. Most characteristic of the Egyptian experiment was that development and economic reform proceeded hand in hand. In other words, reforms addressed both sides, thus ensuring stability of the society and avoiding any turmoil or upheavals. Since 1982, we started a series of five-year plans within a long-term scheme extending up to 2017. Initially, we focused on infrastructure projects whereby we succeeded in revamping all basic utilities. That was by all standards a great achievement by the people of Egypt, failing which it would have been impossible to think of a real agricultural or industrial development to boost Egypt’s capacities. Under these plans, there come a number of mega national projects including Toshka. The latter project aims to create a new urban community south of the Western Desert, combining agricultural, industrial and mining activities and adding about 540,000 feddans to the arable area. In addition to this, there is Sharq Al-Owainat project that aims at reclaiming and cultivating 200,000 feddans. Moreover, there is As-Salam Canal that carries the Nile water to Sinai for the first time. This project is designed to reclaim and cultivate 650,000 feddans east and west of the Suez Canal. There is also Sharq At-Tafria project that consists of an international sea port serving East-West trade, a free industrial zone and a tourist zone. To the northwest of the Suez Gulf, there is another mega project involving a major hub port and a free economic area. Besides the foregoing, we pay special attention to information and communication technology in a bid to entrench technology and place Egypt on the information superhighway. Concomitantly, we seek to create a stable secure and favorable investment climate through facilities, guarantees and incentives provided by the state to Egyptian and foreign investors. Q: Egypt is a leading country in the Arab world. How do your excellency expect the prospects of the Middle East issue? What are Egypt’s efforts to push forward the peace process? And what are the results so far achieved? A: All parties concerned with the settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict should recognize that there is no alternative to peace and respect for people’s desire to attain it. Peace is the optimum strategic option for all parties; a fact already asserted by Arab countries in the Cairo October 2000 summit. In opting for peace, they did so, taking into consideration commitment by Israel to the same goal, in accordance with legitimacy and legal grounds set by the international community for realizing comprehensive, just and durable peace based on equal rights and obligations. Since the new government in Israel took office, the peace process has slipped into a grave dilemma, threatening to abort the whole process. Ongoing of terrorizing innocent civilians, shelling Palestinian towns and villages, confiscating land in the occupied Palestinians territories, attempts to change the status of Jerusalem beyond the framework of negotiations and use of excessive force against an armless people cannot serve but rather hit in the heart peace process. Leaders of Israel should recognize that war has never put an end to any dispute or conflict. Motivated by our historical responsibility to move the region out of this predicament created by Israeli belligerent practices we have promptly launched, in cooperation with our brothers in Jordan, an initiative aiming to salvage the deteriorating situation and bring back both the Palestinian and Israeli sides to the negotiating table. Together with the Mitchell Committee report issued under the second Sharm El Sheikh summit resolutions, this initiative should constitute a firm basis for bringing the peace process back to its course, by negotiating on three themes in parallel; security, political and economic. This would avert further bloodshed and falling into the vicious circle of terrorist acts that reflect frustration resulting from worsening living conditions and the current status of the peace process. Israel will be required first to take measures necessary to alleviate pressures on the Palestinian people and revive their hope that negotiations will lead to the realization of their aspirations as well as those of the entire Arab peoples for an independent sovereign Palestinian state, within a framework of just and comprehensive peace, encompassing the entire Middle East region. China and President Zimin in particular play a role in pushing forward the Middle East peace process, through its outstanding relations with the Arab World that qualify China for a vital role in appeasing conditions and bringing the peace process back to its normal course. |
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