Visiting Chinese envoy to the Middle East on Thursday urged Israelis and Palestinians to promptly resume negotiations on the basis of previous understandings and push forward the peace process between the two neighbors.

Following Egypt and the Palestinian territories, Wu Sike started the third leg of his first tour to the region since assuming the post in March with a meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres, and later held talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman and opposition leader Tzipi Livni later in the day.

Officials from relevant parties agree that "the Middle East is now at a crossroad," where opportunities and challenges exist side by side, the veteran diplomat with 30 years of involvement in Mideast issues told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

"If we seize these opportunities and make good use of them to advance the situation toward peace, then it will bring forth truly good results," said the former Chinese ambassador to Egypt. "If these opportunities are missed, the situation might deteriorate once again."

Wu's visit came ten days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced for the first time conditional support for the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. In a major diplomacy policy address, the traditionally hawkish premier stressed that, along with some other demands, the future Palestinian state must be demilitarized.

Commenting on Netanyahu's speech, Wu stressed that it is inadvisable to set preconditions and close the door to negotiations, yet meanwhile pointed out that Netanyahu's reference to a Palestinian state marks a notable step forward.

A demilitarized state "is a condition raised by the Israeli side, and the Palestinian side has its own standpoints," said the emissary, while stressing that these issues can be properly solved through talks.

"So I think the sides should take advantage of the positive factors to renew peace talks as soon as possible, and should concentrate on essential points like the two-state principle," he told Xinhua.

Yet negotiations should not be resumed from scratch, since a certain amount of consensus and principles have been reached during the past decades of talks, including the two-state principle, the land for peace principle and relevant UN resolutions, said the envoy, adding that these agreements should be respected and observed.

On the settlement issue, one of the sticking points in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Wu said that the question should be dealt with according to relevant UN resolutions and previous agreements. He explained that the general principle is that Israel should withdraw from territories it captured in 1967, while the two sides might make certain adjustment through negotiations.

"Both the Jews and the Arabs are nations with a long history of civilization and culture and are nations of wisdom. In order to realize lasting peace and security, they will find solutions" to the outstanding issues, including the final status of Jerusalem, said Wu.

Meanwhile, the Chinese envoy, who is also scheduled to visit Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Russia, stressed that China is willing to play an active role in the Mideast peace process, and is now cooperating with other parties interested in assisting the regional peace efforts to form a concerted force to help realize the goal that has been longed for.

China supports Russia's plan to convene a Mideast peace conference, and "I also proposed that following the conference, a mechanism should be established to keep constant contact and help achieve some productive results," said Wu.

(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2009)