China supports Palestine’s full membership in UN: Wang Yi

Beijing: China on Thursday said that it supported Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations, urging a certain UN Security Council member to stop laying obstacles to that end. “We call for a more broad-based, more authoritative, and more effective international peace conference to work out a timetable and road-map for the two-state solution,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a press conference held on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People’s Congress.

Wang, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, called the failure to end the humanitarian disaster caused by the Palestinian-Israeli conflict today in the 21st century “a tragedy for humanity and a disgrace for civilization”. “Nothing justifies the protraction of the conflict, or the killing of the civilian population,” he said. “The long occupation of the Palestinian territories is a fact that should not be ignored anymore, and that the long-cherished aspiration of the Palestinians for an independent state should not be evaded anymore,” he added. More importantly, he said, the historical injustice to the Palestinians must not be allowed to continue uncorrected from generation to generation. “Restoring justice to the Palestinian people and fully implementing the two-state solution is the only way to break the vicious cycle of Palestinian-Israeli conflicts, to eliminate the breeding ground of extremist ideologies, and to realize enduring peace in the Middle East,” he added.
In response to a question about the Belt and Road Initiative, he said China wanted to make the BRI a lasting opportunity shared by all and hoped that the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation would serve as an engine of the common development of all countries. “China will promote the upgrading of physical connectivity, the strengthening of institutional connectivity and the deepening of people-to-people connectivity.” He said that the year 2023 not only witnessed pioneering efforts but also great harvests in China’s diplomacy.

Wang said a highly anticipated meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation “is set to take place in Beijing during the autumn, providing a platform for leaders from China and African countries to engage in fruitful discussions on future development, cooperation, and the exchange of governance expertise”. China has consistently placed great importance on its relations with African countries, as evidenced by Wang’s recent visits to Egypt, Tunisia, Togo, and Cote d’Ivoire in January. Notably, this marked the 34th consecutive year in which the foreign minister chose Africa as the destination for their first overseas trip of the year. “China supports the holding in due course of an international peace conference that is recognized by both Russia and Ukraine and ensures the equal participation of all parties and fair discussions on all peace plans,” Wang added.