Chinese Envoy Zhai Jun Meets Yemeni and Saudi Officials in Riyadh: Al-Alimi Calls for a Bigger Chinese Role in Backing Yemen's State Institutions

Zhai Jun, the Chinese government's special envoy on the Middle East issue, met separately in Riyadh on November 12 with Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, to exchange views on Yemen, the Red Sea situation and China-Saudi relations.

According to the Yemeni side, Al-Alimi called on China to expand its role in Yemen, support Yemen's state institutions, armed forces and security services, and help protect maritime corridors. He said Yemen's strategic location, ports and links to its Arab and African surroundings qualify it to be an important partner in the Belt and Road Initiative and international trade, and that Yemen is ready to strengthen cooperation with China in development and trade. Al-Alimi also reiterated Yemen's support for the one-China principle. Zhai said China will continue to support the Presidential Leadership Council and the Yemeni government and efforts to achieve peace and restore security and stability, keep working to cool tensions and prevent deterioration in Yemen and the region, and provide humanitarian aid and take part in development projects.

In its readout of the meeting with Faisal, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Zhai told the Saudi minister that under the strategic guidance of the two countries' top leaders, the China-Saudi comprehensive strategic partnership has developed rapidly; that the heating-up situation in Yemen and the Red Sea is further undermining regional security and development; and that China holds that conflicts should not escalate, fighting should not spread, and confrontation only deepens disputes while dialogue is the right path. China calls on the parties to avoid steps that would further escalate regional tensions and to resolve differences through dialogue and negotiation, and will continue working to promote peace talks in line with the initiatives for Middle East peace and stability put forward by President Xi Jinping. Faisal said Saudi Arabia attaches great importance to its friendly relations with China and is ready, taking the 10th anniversary of the comprehensive strategic partnership as an opportunity, to push bilateral relations to new progress, and spoke highly of China's fair stance on Middle East issues. According to the Saudi Press Agency, the two sides also discussed Houthi attacks on Saudi civilians and civilian facilities, energy security, and the safety of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Related: Chinese Envoy Zhai Jun Visits Iran

(Source: China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Source: China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 图：沙特阿拉伯首都利雅得天际线，王国中心大厦位于画面中部（资料图）。B.alotaby 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Riyadh skyline in Saudi Arabia, with the Kingdom Centre in the middle (file photo). By B.alotaby, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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