Gaza crisis: China ‘always’ behind Arab, Islamic world on legitimate aims, Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Malaysia’s Kadir

Over 200 people were taken hostage and more than 1,400 killed as Hamas fighters stormed dozens of locations across the Gaza Strip on October 7, prompting fierce retaliation and a formal declaration of war from Israel.

At least 4,100 people in Gaza have reportedly been killed in Israeli air strikes since then, with tanks and troops preparing for days for a ground offensive into the blockaded enclave.

“China has always stood on the side of peace, international law and the legitimate aspirations of Arab and Islamic countries,” Wang, who as foreign affairs chief of the ruling Communist Party is also China’s top diplomat, told Kadir on Friday.

It was the latest in a series of phone calls held by Wang with several counterparts from the Muslim world over the past week.

Diplomatic efforts to find a solution are also being led by China’s special envoy to the Middle East, Zhai Jun, who began a meditation tour to the region He is currently attending an international peace summit organised by Egypt in Cairo to address the latest escalation in the decades-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

However, the absence of representatives from Israel, senior officials from its main ally the United States and arch-enemy Iran has made analysts question how far the summit would succeed in easing tensions.

During phone calls and meetings with different relevant parties last week, Beijing repeatedly indicated its wish to see a united stand from Arab and Islamic countries on ways to resolve the crisis.

On Friday, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, said Arab states should play a leading role in the peace process, urging the world body to “heed the calls” of Arab countries in organising aid into Gaza and finding ways for an immediate ceasefire.

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Over 100 trucks at Egypt’s Rafah crossing wait to deliver aid into besieged Gaza Strip

Over 100 trucks at Egypt’s Rafah crossing wait to deliver aid into besieged Gaza Strip

China, which has long positioned itself as a champion of the Global South, has made it clear on many occasions that it wants to challenge the “hegemony” of the United States to create a new world order.

Wang told Kadir that Beijing supported Friday’s Asean-Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Saudi capital Riyadh on the situation in the Gaza Strip.

In a joint statement on the crisis following what was their first-ever summit, Gulf Arab states and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations called for a “durable cease fire”, “the immediate and unconditional release of civilian hostages and detainees”, and “a peaceful resolution of the conflict with a view to realising the two-state solution”.

Chinese Foreign Minister backs efforts to restore ‘legitimate’ Palestinian rights

Before travelling to Riyadh for the summit, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he wanted to discuss the Gaza crisis with “friends of ours” such as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey.

Malaysia, with its majority Muslim population, has a pro-Palestine stance and has long maintained ties with Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls the Gaza Strip. On Monday, Anwar told the Malaysian parliament that his government had rejected Western pressure to condemn Hamas and would continue to maintain relations with it.

China also supports a two-state solution to the conflict, but has sharpened its criticism of Israel in the past week. In a phone call with Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Saturday, Wang said Israel’s actions in Gaza had “gone beyond the scope of self-defence” and called for an end to the “collective punishment” of civilians.

Israel ‘gone beyond self-defence’ in Gaza: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi

Russia was “concerned over the current humanitarian crisis facing Palestine” and “ready to work with China to promote a ceasefire”, a Chinese foreign ministry statement quoted Bogdanov as saying.