China not to compete with US in exerting influence in Middle East

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2011-03-14

China's envoy to the Middle East, Wu Sike, has said that Beijing is not competing with Washington in exerting influence in the area, but is confident about its ties with the region.

"The US's values and interests clashed in the regional chaos in the Middle East this time, and it chose to protect its interests," the China Daily quoted Wu, as saying.

Wu said that Washington's support for discarding Hosni Mubarak, the former Egyptian president, a long-term strategic ally of the US, "hurt and disappointed" both Arab leaders and America's other allies in the region.

"There is no need for comparisons or to think that as the US goes down, China will necessarily fill the void," he added.

Beijing has got along well with Arab countries in the past, and avoided intervening in their domestic affairs.

"We will keep advocating for the adoption of peaceful ways to solve the problems in order to avoid the losses that excessive turbulences would subject the region and world to," he added.

He suggested that regional riots are likely to continue and may result in further political reform in some countries, but will possibly not lead to a "fourth oil crisis" for the region.

He said, "This is essentially still about the domestic problems of some countries"

Source: ANI

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