BEIJING, KOMPAS.com – Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Sunday (10/15/2023) that China supports the struggle of the Palestinian people in safeguarding their national rights.
Wang Yi’s statement makes China’s attitude towards the Hamas-Israel war increasingly clear.
Quoted from AFP, China, which has close relations with Iran, is increasingly positioning itself as a mediator in the Middle East. However, it has been criticized by Western officials for not specifically mentioning Hamas in its condemnation of violence in the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Also read: The Israel-Hamas War Becomes a Test of Diplomacy for China and India
“The root cause of the Palestinian-Israeli situation is that the Palestinian people’s right to a state has been set aside for a long time,” Wang said in a phone call with Hossein, according to an official Chinese readout.
“This historical injustice must end as soon as possible,” Wang said.
He added that, “China will continue to stand on the side of peace and support the Palestinian people’s struggle to protect their national rights”
This Sunday, Wang also had a telephone call with Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Farhan.
On that occasion, he said that Israel’s actions were now “beyond the scope of self-defense” and that the Israeli government should “stop its collective punishment of the people of Gaza”.
“(Israel) must listen seriously to the calls of the international community and the UN secretary general, and stop its collective punishment of the Gaza people,” Wang added.
Wang told Prince Faisal that, “all parties should not take any action to worsen the situation and should return to the negotiating table as soon as possible”.
On Saturday (14/10/2023), Wang held a telephone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who had asked China to use its influence in the Middle East to encourage calm in the region.
“Wang urged holding an international peace meeting as soon as possible to promote broad consensus,” according to Beijing’s readout of the conversation.
Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a senior researcher at the Asia Center in Paris, said that Beijing is more influential in the Middle East than it was ten years or twenty years ago mainly because of its economic footprint there and also because of its diplomatic activism.
“(However), its good relations with Israel, especially in the technology sector, limit Beijing’s room for maneuver,” he told AFP.
Also read: UPDATE Hamas-Israel War, 3,629 People Killed, 12,941 Injured
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2023-10-15 13:15:00
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