Mobilizing efforts for peace and the maintenance of justice and equity

On November 29, Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a message of congratulations for the 11th year in a row to the United Nations on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. In conjunction with that day, a high-level meeting of the UN Security Council on the Palestinian issue, which China called for in its capacity as rotating president of the Council, was held this month. It was chaired by a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and was attended by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, foreign ministers and representatives. High-level officials from about 20 countries and all members of the Security Council, reflecting China’s continued support for the just cause of the Palestinian people, its great concerns and keenness to maintain peace and stability in the Middle East, and its firm will to defend international justice and fairness.

Chinese President Xi Jinping also noted in his congratulatory message that the anniversary of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People gains special importance this year given the current situation. The Palestinian issue is the core of the Middle East issue, and is linked to international justice and fairness. The source of this issue lies in the failure of the Palestinian people to achieve their legitimate national rights to establish their independent state for a long period. The painful experiences of the spiral of conflicts between Palestine and Israel clearly demonstrated that sustainable security cannot be achieved except by adhering to the concept of common security. The international community must act urgently, and the Security Council must bear its responsibility by doing everything in its power to stop the fire, protect civilians, and end the humanitarian catastrophe. On this basis, the resumption of peace talks between the two sides should be facilitated as soon as possible to realize the rights of the Palestinian people to establish a state, remain and return at an early day.

Lasting peace and stability in the Middle East cannot be achieved without a just solution to the Palestinian issue. Chinese President Xi Jinping has clarified on several occasions China's principled position on the current situations in Palestine and Israel, stressing the necessity of a ceasefire and an immediate end to the fighting, ensuring the safety and smooth flow of humanitarian relief corridors, avoiding the expansion of the conflict, implementing the two-state solution as a basic solution, and finding a comprehensive, just and lasting solution. for the Palestinian cause at an early day. Accordingly, China issued its position paper on the settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, in which it put forward proposals for a ceasefire, ending the fighting in a comprehensive manner, protecting civilians with concrete steps, ensuring humanitarian relief, strengthening diplomatic mediation, and implementing the two-state solution.

Since the outbreak of this round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, China has been working hard to achieve peace and save lives. In its capacity as rotating President of the Council this month, China accomplished the push for the adoption of the first resolution in the Council since the outbreak of this round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and also the first resolution adopted on the Palestinian issue since the end of 2016. Yesterday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi chaired a high-level meeting of the UN Security Council on the Palestinian issue, and the foreign ministers of Arab and Islamic countries met jointly, the foreign ministers of Brazil and other countries, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations separately, in order to promote in-depth exchanges, build consensus, and make necessary contributions to alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, achieving a ceasefire, and protecting civilians and take more concrete measures and make due contributions to ultimately reach a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue on the basis of the two-state solution.

China has been and continues to provide development and humanitarian aid to Palestine. In order to alleviate the humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip, China has provided urgent humanitarian aid worth two million US dollars through the Palestinian National Authority and United Nations agencies, in addition to urgent humanitarian supplies worth 15 million Chinese yuan, including food and medicine, to the Gaza Strip via Egypt. China will continue to provide material assistance according to the needs of the residents of the Gaza Strip.

The main way out for resolving the Palestinian issue lies in the establishment of an independent, fully sovereign State of Palestine on the basis of the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. 

China calls on the UN Security Council to advance the reactivation of the two-state solution, and to convene an international peace conference on a larger scale, with greater credibility, and more effectively as soon as possible under the auspices and organization of the United Nations, and to set a specific timetable and roadmap on the implementation of the two-state solution, in a way that advances the finding of a solution. Comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Palestinian cause. Any arrangement regarding the future of the Gaza Strip must respect the will of the Palestinian people and their independent choice, and may not be imposed on them. China will continue to stand for international fairness and justice, work with the international community and build international consensus on promoting peace, and continue its unremitting efforts to achieve peace between Palestine and Israel and peace and stability in the Middle East.