On December 7, 2012, in Manama, capital of Bahrain, Wu Sike, China's Special Envoy to the Middle East, called on the international community to uphold and speed up the political settlement of the Syrian issue and realize the political transition process led by the Syrian people.
At the "Manama Dialogue", Wu Sike said that the spillover of the Syrian issue is speeding up and it has planted a major hidden peril to regional and global security. The international community must stick to the right direction of seeking for a political solution to the Syrian issue and support the mediation efforts made by UN-Arab League Joint Special Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi, implement the consensus reached by the international community on the peaceful settlement of the Syrian issue and urge the related parties to have an early ceasefire and start the dialogue process.
Wu stressed that China has never sought for any gain from the Syrian issue. China aims to maintain peace and stability in the Middle East, which is in line with the fundamental and long-term interests of the Syrian people and the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the basic norms governing international relations. China has done a lot of work to this end. China recently raised four initiatives to advance the political settlement process, which were broadly appreciated and recognized by the international community. China adheres to a balanced approach to the Syrian government and the opposition and has maintained close communication with related parties.
He said that China is highly concerned of the humanitarian situation in Syria. China has provided and will continue to provide the Syrian people including overseas refugees with humanitarian spot exchange or in-kind assistance.
The "Manama Dialogue", which was originally called the "Gulf Dialogue", is a forum for the regional security of the Gulf organized by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). It was established in Manama in 2004 and has held 8 annual sessions so far.