Peaceful dialogue and political negotiations are the only effective ways to solve the Palestine question, said Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo in Beijing Tuesday. 

Addressing the opening ceremony of the United Nations Meeting for Asia and the Pacific on the Question of Palestine, Dai said that relevant UN resolutions and the "land-for-peace" principle, as a basis of resolving the Palestine issue, should be earnestly implemented.

Dai said the international community should be fair and continue to urge Israel and Palestine to give up violence, stick to peace talks, earnestly implement the "road map" plan and give full play to the important role of the United Nations.

China has always been committed to the Middle East peace and supported the UN role on the Middle East issue, said Dai.

Along with the international community, China is ready to continue to push forward the Middle East peace process, he said.

Kim Hak-Su, executive secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, conveyed the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's message to the meeting.

Palestinian Minister of Labor Ghassan el-Khatib and Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, vice president of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and Cuba's ambassador to the UN, also addressed the opening ceremony.

The three-day meeting is co-sponsored by the UN and the Chinese government with the theme of "Arousing International Support for a Peaceful Solution of the Question of Palestine." The meeting is attended by 200 participants, including government representatives from 60 countries, representatives of international organizations and non-governmental organizations and experts on the Middle East issue.

(Xinhua News Agency December 16, 2003)