Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri received this afternoon at the “Center House” China’s special envoy to Syria, Xie Xiaoyan, at the head of a delegation, accompanied by the Chinese Ambassador to Lebanon Wang Kejian, a statement by Hariri’s office indicated on Monday.
After the meeting, the Chinese envoy said: “I had a very good meeting with Prime Minister Saad Hariri. We exchanged views on the latest developments in Syria, and the steps that will be taken by the international community and the countries in the region.”
He added: “China and Lebanon are friends and have good cooperation on international and regional affairs. They also have good coordination on the Syrian issue, and we hope to make progress concerning reaching a cease-fire, the fight against terrorism, humanitarian aid and a political solution. There is a relationship between these four areas so they must be given great attention. The fight against terrorism is an important issue because terrorism hinders a cease-fire and leads to the continuation of chaos, and it is a common enemy to all mankind. Therefore, all terrorist organizations listed by the United Nations on the black list must be hit with an iron fist.”
He concluded: “We hope to make progress in the political process and the resumption of political negotiations in Geneva as soon as possible. The international community must give the humanitarian situation more attention. China has provided aid to the Syrian people, including the Syrian refugees in Lebanon, that reached 480 million yuan. At the beginning of this year and during the tour of the Chinese president in the Middle East, he announced additional aid to the peoples of this region that reached 230 million yuan. And in February, the Chinese Foreign Minister announced food assistance of ten thousand tons. China will continue to provide humanitarian aid and wants to continue consultations with Lebanon on the Syrian issue”.
Separately, Hariri received a message from Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy Brey who congratulated him on his assignment to form the government.
