China’s Foreign Minister calls for Gaza ceasefire, Palestinian statehood
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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry at a press conference in Cairo on Jan 14.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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CAIRO - China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Jan 14 called for the establishment of a Palestinian state and a ceasefire in Gaza, where 100 days of the Israel-Hamas war
In a press conference with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in Cairo, the top Chinese diplomat said “it is necessary to insist on the establishment of an independent, fully sovereign state of Palestine on the 1967 borders, with east Jerusalem as its capital”.
A joint statement from the two ministers urged an immediate end “to all acts of violence, killing and targeting of civilians and civilian establishments”.
Israel launched an intense military campaign in response to Hamas’ deadly Oct 7 attack
In Gaza, at least 23,968 people have been killed, the majority of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the besieged Hamas-ruled territory.
Mr Shoukry and Mr Wang called for “an international summit for peace to find a just, comprehensive and lasting solution to the Palestinian cause by ending the (Israeli) occupation and establishing an independent, contiguous Palestinian state”.
The Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, are separated by Israeli territory. Both were seized by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Chinese President Xi Jinping had previously called for an “international peace conference” to resolve the fighting.
China has historically been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and supportive of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Mr Wang is currently on an African tour that will see him also visit Togo, Tunisia and the Ivory Coast. AFP
