By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – China supports all efforts conducive to peace talks in Ukraine, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, and stressed that Gaza and the West Bank are “not a bargaining chip in political trade-offs.”
After Russian and U.S. officials met in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and agreed to press ahead with efforts to end the war in Ukraine, Wang told the Security Council: “China supports all efforts conducive to peace talks.”
He said Beijing would continue to follow four points outlined by President Xi Jinping on what should be done.
The points were put forward by 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. U.S. President Donald Trump caused outrage earlier this month when he proposed that the U.S. 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 Security Council on multilateralism because China is president for February.
Speaking broadly, he said countries “cannot just sit by and watch multilateral institutions become dysfunctional and ineffective due to their own failure to cooperate,” urging the Security Council to “rise above narrow minded, geopolitical considerations” to champion solidarity and cooperation.
“Any act of bullying, trickery or extortion is a flagrant violation of the basic norms of international relations. Any unilateral sanction that circumvents Security Council authorization lacks legal basis, defies justification and contradicts common sense,” said Wang, without elaborating.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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