A diplomatic eye on Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- Source: Global Times
- [22:15 June 21 2010]
- Comments
Chen Yonglong (right) meeting Israeli President Shimon Peres. Photo: Courtesy of Chen Yonglong
Editor's Note:
Israel has been under mounting pressure since its May 31 attack on a flotilla of humanitarian aid ships to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The attack, which killed at least 19 people, has been condemned by many countries.
While the decades-long conflict between Israel and Palestine is seemingly intractable, various hard efforts have been made in an attempt to dispel the deep-seated mistrust and to bring peace to the tumultuous Middle East. China, though not involved in the peace talk efforts orchestrated by the Quartet, still has its own role to play in the process.
The following is an interview by Global Times (GT) reporter Xu Yan with Chen Yonglong (Chen), formerly the Chinese ambassador to Israel (2003-07) and Jordan (2001-03), on his insider's perspective of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and China's policy in the Middle East.
The 64-year-old former ambassador is also vice president of the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs.
GT: Diplomacy and war are often said to be antithetical to each other. But you are one of the very few diplomats whose diplomatic life has been closely connected with war. Are you happy being titled a "war diplomat"?
Chen: I'm not certain that being a "war diplomat" is a good thing. It's true that I have often seen wars in my 30 years of diplomatic work. I don't know whether I chased after wars, or wars chased after me. Anyway, I witnessed wars in many of the countries where I served as a diplomat.
As well as the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 and the first Uganda-Tanzania war in 1978-79, I gained my "war experience" in Jordan and Israel during my terms as ambassador.
It is crucial for a diplomat to give an accurate assessment in wartime. On the eve of the US war against Iraq, I worked closely with Zhang Weiqiu, then the Chinese ambassador to Iraq.
We used code while discussing the situation on the phone. We used "I miss you" for "Come here soon," "I miss you very much" for "Come here today," and "I extremely miss you" for "Come here immediately." I used "I miss you very much" on the eve of the war. We met, discussed in detail, and promptly briefed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the Middle East situation.
We predicted that the war would erupt on March 19, 2003, one day earlier than the actual start of the war. The judgment was based upon various information that we had collected. King Abdullah II of Jordan had leaked the information that a war would be imminent during the Davos Forum in January 2003. By doing so, we won enough time to withdraw overseas Chinese in Iraq safely to Jordan.
In case of an emergency like a war, it is a Chinese ambassador's top priority to protect the lives of overseas Chinese. On July 25, 2006, Israeli air force raided the Khiyam observation sentry post of the UN peacekeeping in Lebanon. Chinese military observer Du Zhaoyu lost his life in the raid. I immediately picked up the phone and called the Israeli foreign affairs ministry, and later asked the Israeli army to find the body of our officer. That is one of the responsibilities that must be shouldered by an ambassador in wartime.
