China appreciates and supports the Middle East peace proposal put forward by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, and considers the proposal "positive and constructive," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said in answer to a question from the press in Beijing Wednesday.
Kong said China has noticed that the crown prince's peace proposal has been welcomed by the international community and all parties involved.
"We consider the proposal positive and constructive," he said. "China appreciates and supports the proposal."
The crown prince's proposal offers recognition of Israel by all Arab states in return for Israeli withdrawal of troops from Jerusalem and other Arab territory occupied by Israel in 1967.
According to the report by New York Times in early times, Crown Prince Abdullah had proposed in an interview with the newspaper that the Arab nations recognize Israel in exchange for the Jewish state's total withdrawal from occupied territory.
"Full withdrawal from all the occupied territories, in accord with UN resolutions, including in Jerusalem, for full normalization of relations," the crown prince was quoted as saying.
The crown prince also disclosed that he had included the idea in his speech to be delivered at the Arab summit scheduled for March 27-28 in Beirut, Lebanon.
( February 28,2002)