CGTN America
Female Palestinian protestors wave their national flag and a poster during clashes with Israeli security forces near the Qalandia checkpoint in the Israeli occupied West Bank on December 20, 2017 as protests continue following the US president’s controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. (AFP PHOTO / THOMAS COEX)
Palestinians and Israelis are at a two-day peace symposium in Beijing. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke to the attendees and urged the two sides find peace.
CGTN’s Wu Guoxiu reports.
On Friday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with the envoys for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Great Hall of People. Wang Yi reiterated China’s position on the Palestine issue, which he says is consistent.
“China supports the establishment of an independent State of Palestine, enjoying full sovereignty on the basis of the 1967 borders, and with East Jerusalem as its capital,” the foreign minister said.
The Palestinian envoys said Palestine insists on solving the issue through political dialogue, expecting the international community to promote the peace process. They delivered a letter from President Abbas, signaling their gratitude for China’s support in the United Nations.
“We appreciate China’s support to us in the United Nations, especially at the Security Council on the 18th and the General Assembly Thursday,” PLO Executive Committee Member Ahmed Majdalani said.
China’s foreign minister also met with Palestinian and Israeli attendees to the two-day Symposium held on Thursday and Friday in Beijing. China hopes the symposium will serve as a platform for peace advocates.
The symposium included eight delegates from Palestine and Israel, and seven from China, including China’s Special Envoy on the Middle East issue, Gong Xiaosheng.
According to the envoy, both sides agree that the two-state solution is the only prospect for peace. Leaders of Palestine and Israel should again make a formal promise to the two-state solution, the envoy said, and both sides should avoid taking any unilateral action, not in favor of the solution.
Among other measures, Gong Xiaosheng called for is the freezing of Jewish settlement expansion, and joint action to solve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“The Symposium is held in a very nervous, critical and sensitive background,” he said. “Although it is a civil meeting, it sends a voice to the world that the majority of Palestinian and Israeli people support the peace process and two-state solution.”
China vowed continued efforts to promote Middle East peace.
Hamoud Salhi, interim dean of Undergraduate Studies at California State University, joined CGTN to talk about China’s position on the Mideast peace issue.
