BERLIN — State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in Berlin on Feb 14 that security guarantee in the Middle East region cannot be achieved only with military power.

Wang made the remarks in an interview with Alessandra Galloni, Reuters global managing editor, when answering questions that whether China regards that it will eventually have to have military presence in the Middle East to ensure its energy supplies security, and if China, at that moment, need to take more responsibility considering it, like other countries, relies on the US security umbrella in the region.

He said that many Middle East countries would not agree that the United States has provided security guarantee for the region.

The fact is quite the opposite, he said. "In the past decades, how many wars has the United States started in the Middle East? How much damage and devastation has it brought to the people of the region?" Wang refuted.

What the United States has done failed to bring stability and development to the Middle East, but rather endless turbulence and persistent poverty, he said, noting that the United States is taking actions out of its own interests, which has not benefited countries in the Middle East.

According to the diplomat, the most enduring and reliable security guarantee will be for countries to build mutual trust and align their interests through mutually beneficial cooperation. Security guarantee cannot be relied only on military power, he added.

As for the Middle East security, Wang said that China, responding to the call of the United Nations and based on the will of countries in the region, has been working to contribute to the region's security.

China has sent over 1,800 peacekeepers to the Middle East, he said, adding that China's naval vessels have been conducting escort missions in the Gulf of Aden for over a decade.

Meanwhile, China has also initiated a Middle East Security Forum with regional countries, calling on countries to reject the old-fashioned cold-war mentality and put in place a new security architecture that underpins common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, Wang said.

"Going forward, we will continue to play a constructive role in promoting peace, security and development in the Middle East," he added.