Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged Israeli President Isaac Herzog to halt and reverse the forced establishment and expansion of settlements in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank.
During a meeting in Azerbaijan, Wang said China has consistently viewed the Palestinian issue as the greatest historical injustice of this century, according to a statement issued by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Wang emphasized that the “two-state solution,” based on the coexistence of Israel and Palestine as separate states, is the right path to resolving the Palestinian issue.
He also said that fully opening access routes for humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip is an immediate priority and stressed the need to prevent the humanitarian crisis from worsening.
Wang added that China is ready to work with the international community to encourage all relevant parties to resume dialogue as soon as possible and seek a political solution to the conflict.
Wang is attending the seventh summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), held in Baku, Azerbaijan, as a special representative of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The meeting comes as China seeks to expand its diplomatic influence in the Middle East. In September, Xi visited Cairo, Egypt, for the first time in a decade and urged Middle Eastern countries to oppose external interference and reconsider the region’s security framework.
In March this year, China also criticized US and Israeli attacks on Iran and called for an immediate halt to the strikes. China and Iran signed a 25-year comprehensive strategic partnership agreement in 2021.
Source: China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
