Cal's Lucas Asia Correspondent Shanghai
Asia correspondent Shanghai
Updated Wednesday, February 21, 2024-13:10
Israel-Gaza War The US vetoes for the third time a UN resolution to call for an end to the war in Gaza
China has harshly criticized the United States for vetoing a new UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. "Given the current situation on the ground, continuing to passively avoid an immediate ceasefire is like giving the green light to continue the killing," said Zhang Jun, China's ambassador to the UN.
The resolution, proposed by Algeria, was supported by 13 of the 15 Council members. "The US veto sends the wrong message, making the situation in Gaza more dangerous. That is why China expresses strong disappointment and dissatisfaction," Zhang said in statements reported on Wednesday by the Chinese state agency Xinhua.
"
The spillover of the conflict is destabilizing the entire Middle East
and generating a growing risk of a broader war. Only by extinguishing the flames of war in Gaza will the world prevent the fires of hell from engulfing the entire region," said this veteran diplomat. 63 year old Chinese.
In Beijing, where they remember that this is already the third US veto of a Security Council resolution on Israel's war in Gaza, Washington's proposal for a "temporary ceasefire" linked to the release of all Israeli hostages is not convincing. .
"As long as the United States maintains its military aid to Israel, the change of term on a temporary ceasefire does not make sense," says a note in the Chinese newspaper
Global Times
, one of the media speakers of the ruling Communist Party.
"Washington is still reluctant to exert full pressure on Israel to stop the bloodshed. For now it is imposing only limited diplomatic pressure to respond to calls from the international community. US military aid is key for Israel to continue its attack on "Gaza. As long as the Biden administration maintains military supplies to Israeli forces, changing words on diplomatic language will not bring any meaningful change."
Mao Ning, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said China was closely monitoring developments in Rafah, the city south of Gaza that Israel has described as the last stronghold of Hamas, focusing there on a ground offensive. "We urge Israel to stop military operations as soon as possible and avoid a more devastating humanitarian disaster in Rafah," Mao said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping maintains very good commercial relations with Israel - China is its third trading partner worldwide - but he has always publicly supported the Palestinian cause, defended at the UN that the solution to the conflict involves the creation of two States, with East Jerusalem as the capital of a sovereign Palestinian state.
"It is a just cause of the Palestinian people to want to restore their legitimate national rights," Xi said last year at a meeting in Beijing with Palestinian Authority leader Abu Mazen. Then, Xi assured that the Asian giant would have an "active role in helping Palestine achieve internal reconciliation and promote peace."
In November, during a virtual summit of the five emerging nations that make up the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), the Chinese president once again defended
a "just solution to the question of Palestine"
and reiterated his demands for a ceasefire in Gaza.