China's FM says country to boost attempts to end Israel-Palestine conflict

China's FM says country to boost attempts to end Israel-Palestine conflict
Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi made his remarks during a digital meeting about the Israel-Palestine conflict where figures from both nations were in attendance.
3 min read
15 July, 2021
Chinese FM Wang Yi emphasised that he backs a two-state model [JADE GAO/AFP/Getty]

The Chinese government is seeking to boost its participation in attempts to end the conflict in Palestine-Israel, Beijing's foreign minister said.

Wang Yi made the remark on Zoom during a digital meeting about the matter on Thursday, Haaretz reported.

The FM emphasised that he backs a two-state model for ending the conflict and proposed that talks could be hosted in China with delegations from the two sides present.

Israel illegally occupies Palestine's West Bank and East Jerusalem and allows settlers to live there in violation of international law. It often expels or threatens to expel Palestinian residents from their homes and also maintains a brutal siege on Gaza.

On top of this, 700,000 Palestinians were forced to flee from their homes in 1948 during the Nakba, or catastrophe, which occurred alongside the foundation of Israel, and created a refugee crisis persisting to this day.

The online meeting on Thursday had the involvement of figures from both Palestine and Israel.

The top-ranking attendee on the Palestinian side was social development minister Ahmad Majdalani, also prominent within the Palestine Liberation Organization.

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Among the Israeli attendees were parliamentarian Michal Rozin of the centre-left Meretz party and Yossi Beilin, who has held several ministerial positions, including the justice and religious affairs briefs.

In addition to these two was the pro-two state Geneva Initiative's director general, Gadi Baltiansky.

Despite cordial ties between Beijing and Tel Aviv, certain figures on the Israeli side are aggravated by what they see as Chinese backing for Palestine, Haaretz said.

Moreover, Israel's embassy in the People's Republic criticised "blatant antisemitism" shown on public television in May in relation to Israel's deadly bombing campaign against Gaza.

This included the suggestion that "some people believe that US. pro-Israel policy is traceable to the influence of wealthy Jews in the US and the Jewish lobby on US foreign policymakers."

Israel's trade with Beijing is more substantial than with any other country or region, save the United States and Europe.

Furthermore, Beijing has moved to participate in port, train and other construction efforts in the Jewish state as it continues to implement its Belt and Road investment and influence project.

Despite this latest news on Palestine, China's actions against the Muslim Uighur minority in Xinjiang province continue to come under fire.

On Wednesday, the US Senate adopted the Uighur Forced Labour Prevention Act to prohibit goods from Xinjiang being sold in the States, where Washington considers the Chinese authorities to be committing a genocide.

Not a single senator voted against the bill, though the other chamber of Congress, the House, must now also accept it before US President Joe Biden can approve the measure, giving it effect.