During a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on the sidelines of a conference in Azerbaijan, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on Israel to halt and reverse the "forced construction" of settlements in the West Bank, according to a statement released by China's Foreign Ministry on Friday.
In the statement, Wang stressed that China has always regarded the Palestinian issue as "the greatest historical injustice of this century." He affirmed that the "two-state solution" is the correct path to resolving the conflict and said the immediate priority is to fully open access to the Gaza Strip to prevent a widening humanitarian "disaster."
China's top diplomat also expressed Beijing's willingness to coordinate with the international community to push the parties to return to dialogue soon and pursue a political settlement.
According to the Xinhua News Agency, Wang attended the Seventh Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, held in Baku, Azerbaijan, as a special representative of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
China promotes a new framework for the Middle East
In September, Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first visit to Cairo in a decade, calling on Middle Eastern countries to reject outside influence and consider reshaping the region's security order. The rare visit came as Beijing seeks to expand its influence in the region amid the ongoing US-Israeli war against Iran.
Discussions in Cairo touched on that war, with both presidents calling for a "diplomatic solution" to reach a "comprehensive agreement to end the war," according to a statement from the spokesman for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
In March, China criticized US and Israeli strikes on Iran, with Beijing demanding an immediate end to the joint attacks. According to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement after the fighting began, Wang told his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar, that the attack on Iran came at a time when negotiations between Washington and Tehran had "made significant progress, including on addressing Israel's security concerns."
China was once Iran's largest trading partner, buying as much as 90% of the country's oil, according to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. In 2021, Beijing signed a 25-year "comprehensive strategic partnership" agreement with Tehran.
At the same time, over the past decade, Beijing has built closer ties with Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, while remaining a top trading partner of both the United States and Israel.
