China is hosting a delegation of foreign ministers from Southwest Asia and Indonesia over Nov. 20-21, who met to discuss the urgent task of stopping the U.S.-backed Israeli slaughter in Gaza and of advancing toward a real peace through the international peace conference that China is proposing. The Beijing meeting with the Foreign Ministers of Palestine, Indonesia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, is the first in a series of scheduled meetings between the delegation and top leaders of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Tomorrow’s meeting will be in Moscow, followed by meetings with British, French and U.S. representatives.
China is playing an important leadership role in helping to forge a peaceful solution to the Gaza disaster. Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the meeting, “Let us work together to quickly cool down the situation in Gaza and restore peace in the Middle East as soon as possible. A humanitarian disaster is unfolding in Gaza.” Emphasizing that China has always been a “good friend and brother” to Arab and Muslim countries, Wang said it is imperative that relevant resolutions of the Security Council and the UN General Assembly be implemented. A ceasefire, he said, “should not be diplomatic rhetoric … it is a matter of life and death for the people of Gaza.”
The two state solution and creation of a Palestinian state must be priorities, he emphasized, along with the convening of an international peace conference “with greater scale, scope and effectiveness and a timetable and roadmap for this purpose,” Global Times quoted him saying.
