Mr. Chairman,
China has all along firmly supported the just cause of the Palestinian people to regain their legitimate national rights, always been a sincere friend of Palestine and stood together with the Palestinian people.
On November 29, 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to a U.N. Special Commemorative Meeting in observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. This is the 11th time that President Xi sent a congratulatory message to the annual meeting. This speaks to China’s firm support for the Palestinian people’s just cause of restoring the nation’s legitimate rights and interests. It also shows China’s commitment to our responsibility of upholding fairness and justice in international affairs.
President Xi pointed out that the question of Palestine lies at the heart of the Middle East issue. It is a matter of international fairness and justice. The root cause of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the fact that the realization of the legitimate national right of Palestinians to establish an independent State of Palestine is long overdue. There can be no sustainable security without security for all: this is a hard lesson learned from the cycle of repeated Palestinian-Israeli conflicts. The international community must act now and urgently. The United Nations Security Council must take on its responsibility and do all it can to push for ceasefire, protect civilians, and end the humanitarian disaster. Palestinian-Israeli peace talks should be resumed on that basis as soon as possible. The Palestinians’ right to statehood, right to existence, and right of return must be realized at the earliest date.
President Xi emphasized that China has all along firmly supported the just cause of the Palestinian people to regain their legitimate national rights. The fundamental solution to the question of Palestine lies in the establishment of an independent State of Palestine that enjoys full sovereignty based on the 1967 border and with east Jerusalem as its capital. The economic needs of Palestine and its people’s living necessities must be guaranteed. The international community should provide more development assistance and humanitarian support for Palestine. It is important to keep to the right direction of peace talks. A more authoritative international conference for peace should be convened as soon as possible. China has put forward the Global Security Initiative, and is of the view that disagreements and disputes between nations should be resolved through dialogue and consultation. China supports all efforts that are conducive to the peaceful settlement of crises. On the question of Palestine, China will continue to speak up for fairness and justice, promote talks for peace, and provide humanitarian and development assistance to Palestine. As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, China will continue to work with the rest of the international community to build consensus for peace, get the question of Palestine back on the right track of the two-state solution, and seek an early resolution that is comprehensive, just and durable.
Mr. Chairman,
On the question of Palestine, China remains on the side of peace, justice and conscience. Since the latest round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, China has all along devoted its efforts to realizing peace and saving lives. On November 15, Resolution No. 2712 was adopted, under China’s rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council for November, beginning initial steps toward a ceasefire. On November 20，the delegation of Arab-Islamic foreign ministers visited China. On November 21, President Xi attended the extraordinary joint meeting of BRICS leaders and leaders of invited BRICS members on the situation in the Middle East with particular reference to Gaza. On November 29, the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, under China’s initiation, the Security Council held a High-Level Meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli Issue. Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi chaired the meeting.
Meanwhile, China has submitted the Position Paper of the People’s Republic of China on Resolving the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict to the U.N. Security Council. The Position Paper emphasizes that pursuant to the Charter of the United Nations, the Security Council shoulders primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, and should thus play an active and constructive role on the question of Palestine and offers proposals in five respects, including implementing a comprehensive ceasefire and ending the fighting, protecting civilians effectively, ensuring humanitarian assistance, enhancing diplomatic mediation, and Seeking political settlement. I have written a letter to the heads of the Vienna International Organizations, Permanent Representatives to share the Position Paper mentioned above. China will continue to enhance coordination with relevant parties to pool consensus to strive for ending the war at the earliest date, alleviating the humanitarian crisis, realizing peaceful coexistence between Palestine and Israel, and achieving long-term peace and stability in the Middle East.
Thank you.