Before his historic visit to China scheduled June 21 to 25, Syrian President Bashar Assad received at his presidential palace an exclusive interview by People's Daily. He spoke highly of the sound, steady development of the friendly ties between the two countries, and answered questions concerning Middle East peace process, anti-terrorism and other international focuses.

Commenting on how to regard China's peaceful development and its role in pushing forward the Mideast peace process, Bashar said that China's success not only lies in its status as a standing member of the UN Security Council and its vast population, but also in its unique experience and its social, economic progress. Now China has realized high-speed growth, but those so-called "first world" countries are sliding. Some people in the world are unwilling to see or doubt the advancement and changes happened in China, but China has convinced them by facts. For Syria, Bashar said, we are facing problems very similar with China, only in a different scale.

As for the Midease peace process, Syria welcomes China to play a bigger role, for as a standing member of the UN Security Council, China is an important country. China is of great influence and carries tremendous obligations in the Council's implementation of Mideast-related resolutions. Mediation in the peace process needs sincerity and credibility, and China should particularly play its role although America and Europe are also doing their work. I will encourage China to play a more active and effective role during my upcoming visit. Unfortunately, the peace process has currently sunk into stagnation. Everything seems in stagnation when it comes to American general election. This is not normal, for world affairs should not be affected or even controlled by the American election, and it is normal and necessary that more big countries join in the promotion of Mideast peace process.

Concerning Palestine-Israel peace talks and the Mideast peace process as a whole, Bashar pointed out that the peace process should be participated by parties with peace will and a host country. Since the Madrid meeting, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon all expressed their will for peace, but Israel failed to do so. We stand for the realization of just, overall peace in the Middle East. The Palestine-Israel, Syria-Israel and Lebanon-Israel processes are all inter-related, and all parties involved have been striving for reaching a peace agreement, but by now the agreement has remained a mere scrap of paper. Peace should be among people, but not merely among leaders. The problem facing the Middle East peace process is that Security Council's resolutions are not implemented. One-sided, ambiguous and partial agreement can never bring all-round peace.

Commenting on the post-war Iraq, Bashar noted that the country has been plunged into turmoil, and neighboring countries are affected. Particularly, the spread of terror activities has turned the region into a hotbed of terrorism. On the other hand, the Iraqi problem also hinders bank Mideast peace process and regional development, since under war and disorders, economic growth is limited and investment is scared away. Meanwhile, the psychological impact of war and social turbulence on local residents can never be underestimated. Since the Iraqi question casts a far-reaching influence on Syria, the latter pays particular attention to the solution of the Iraqi problem.

Talking about the "Great Middle East" plan put forward by America, Bashar said that when American journalists ask the same question, he would tell them under such a plan the Middle East region would become another Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo prison. People who created the above scandals have no right to talk wildly about the so-called "great democracy". True democracy should come from within the local people, while democracy imposed from external is neither realistic nor acceptable. Taking the Israel-Palestine peace talks as example, America has lost its credibility as a just mediator due to its pursuit of double standards. The nature of the "Great Middle East" proposal is to drive our attention away from Iraq and Palestine to other things.

As for international anti-terrorism campaign, Bashar believes that the use of troops will lead to just the opposite, for terrorism is at first a question of ideology, and secondly a question of participants themselves, including propelling elements such as ignorance, poverty and radical thoughts. Anti-terrorism is a long-term battle, and efforts must be made in culture, ideology, communication and education. Only by eliminating the roots of terrorism, and under the precondition of security and development, instead of military solutions, can we possibly achieve our goal.

When asked the America-imposed sanction on Syria, Bashar stressed that imposing sanctions easily upon other countries has become a new trend in today's international relations, which reflects American hegemonism and interference in other country's affairs. Since its resumption in 1974, the Syria-US relations have been unstable. This is because of changes on the US side. We stand for dialogues and hope for progress in the ties between the two countries through dialogues.

Talking about the domestic reform and modernization construction, Bashar told reporter that the reform faces many challenges and difficulties, and particularly, people are not fully aware of its necessity and urgency. We believe the top priority of our reform is legal adjustment and emancipation of mind, followed by the fostering of administrative cadres and talents. Now Syria is actively drawing experience from China, France and other countries. It takes a long time before the reform could yield any result and we should not expect accomplishing it in one step. China started its reform two decades ago and by now has scored noticeable achievements. Syria has adopted a series of reform measures, including the permission of constructing three private banks, private schools, private newspapers and the mapping out of preferential policies for foreign capital. Bashar expressed his confidence that the reform will finally bear fruits as long as we persist in carrying it out.

The article is carried on the People's Daily newspaper, June 21, and translated by People's Daily Online