UNITED NATIONS: China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday that Beijing supports all efforts conducive to peace talks in Ukraine. He also emphasized that Gaza and the West Bank “are the homeland of the Palestinian people, not a bargaining chip in political trade-offs.”
After Russian and US senior officials met in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and agreed to continue efforts to end the war in Ukraine, Wang told the UN Security Council: “China supports all efforts conducive to peace talks.”
Wang Yi said Beijing would continue to follow four points outlined by President Xi Jinping on what should be done. The points were put forward by President Xi in April last year, the official Xinhua news agency has reported.
They are refraining from seeking selfish gains; not adding fuel to the fire; creating conditions for the restoration of peace; and reducing a negative impact on the world economy and refraining from undermining the stability of global industrial and supply chains, Xinhua reported.
On the Middle East, Wang said it was vital to uphold the two-state solution. US President Donald Trump caused outrage earlier this month when he proposed that the US should take over the Gaza Strip and Gazans should be resettled elsewhere.
“Gaza and the West Bank are the homeland of the Palestinian people, not a bargaining chip in political trade-offs. The Palestinians governing Palestine is an important principle that must be followed in the post-conflict governance of Gaza,” he said.
Wang chaired a meeting of the 15-member UN Security Council on multilateralism because China is president for February.
Trump’s outrageous proposal drew global condemnation.
Palestinians have widely said they will not leave their homeland, while Egypt and Jordan have refused Trump’s calls for them to take in Gaza’s population.
Rights groups have widely said the plan amounts to forced expulsion, a potential war crime. European countries have also primarily denounced Trump’s plan.
