Discussions between China, Egypt to reveal areas of accord: Arab League official

Regional countries expect the discussions between China and Egypt to reveal great areas of accord and agreement between the two sides, said an official of the Arab League on Wednesday.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang landed in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on Wednesday for an official visit to the Middle East country.

In an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN) ahead of Premier Li's visit, Hossam Zaki, assistant secretary-general of the Arab League, underscored the long history of connection and exchanges between Arab countries and China.

"The Arab League countries and China have the best of relations. We are not talking here about relations between Arabs and Chinese civilizations only, which have historically enjoyed excellent relations between both sides. But we are talking about economic relations, about political relations, cultural relations between China and the Arab world and the Arab League in the middle of all of this is the engine on the Arab side in order to make sure that the momentum of the relations is always kept high and is always looking forward to better and bigger achievements," said Zaki.

In his view, high-level meetings between China and Arab countries are key to building on this solid foundation and reaching consensus on key issues, as well as expanding trade.

"The discussions with the Chinese officials and especially someone high in the hierarchy in China, of course, will deal with many issues. The issues that we would like to discuss with the Chinese side will include political issues of the region, and in particular, the issue of the question of Palestine. So we are looking forward to our discussions and we think that the discussions are going to reveal great areas of accord and of agreement between the two sides on the assessment of the world scene and the regional scene in particular of the Middle East," he said.

"We have good economic relations. As a matter of fact, they can be qualified as being excellent. We have Chinese investments in Arab countries. We have Arab investments also with China and Chinese companies. We have trade balances, we have exchanges. We have a variety of economic activities that are of great importance to both sides. And we are always aiming for a better and bigger number in terms of objectives and economic objectives. We have had in the past years some progress, but we always aim for bigger progress in terms of our trade balance," said the official.

Discussions between China, Egypt to reveal areas of accord: Arab League official

Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez said on Sunday that the country is at a critical stage and must achieve national unity, emphasizing that maintaining internal cohesion is of utmost importance.

In a televised address, Rodriguez called on the public to continue trusting the government under the current highly complex political circumstances.

Her statement comes in the wake of a January 3 military operation conducted by the United States, during which Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were taken into custody and flown out of the country.

The operation resulted in at least 100 fatalities.

Rodriguez, who was sworn in as acting president two days later on January 5, framed her appeal for unity against this backdrop of external intervention.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan Minister of Communication and Information Freddy Nanez denounced the U.S. actions as a "war crime of the 21st century" when speaking at an international cultural event on Sunday.

Nanez condemned not only the January 3 airstrikes but also the associated cyber and electromagnetic attacks.

He accused the United States of violating international law through the forced removal of President Maduro and his wife, while attacks on civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities, represent a flagrant breach of humanitarian norms.

He reiterated that the stigmatization and military attacks against Venezuela are driven by economic interests, particularly the desire to control its abundant natural resources.

Venezuelan acting president calls for national unity amid complex situation