Chinese foreign minister calls war in Gaza a ‘disgrace for civilisation’

Beijing (Quds News Network) – China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday, March 7, called Israel’s war in Gaza a “disgrace for civilization” and reiterated Beijing’s calls for an “immediate ceasefire.”

“It is a tragedy for humankind and a disgrace for civilization that today, in the 21st century, this humanitarian disaster cannot be stopped,” Wang told journalists at a press conference.

Beijing has been calling for an immediate ceasefire since the start of the current Israel-Hamas war in October 2023. China has historically been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and supportive of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And President Xi Jinping has called for an “international peace conference” to resolve the fighting.

“No reason can justify the continuation of the conflict, and no excuse can justify being desperately killed,” Wang said. “The international community must act urgently, making an immediate ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities an overriding priority, and ensuring humanitarian relief an urgent moral responsibility.”

Beijing’s top diplomat also said China supports “full” United Nations membership for a Palestinian state. “We support Palestine becoming a formal member of the United Nations,” Wang said.

“The catastrophe in Gaza once again reminded the world that the fact that the Palestinian territories have been occupied for a long time can no longer be ignored,” he said. “The long-cherished wish of the Palestinian people to establish an independent country can no longer be evaded, and the historical injustice suffered by the Palestinian people cannot continue for generations without being corrected,” he added.

Wang Yi, speaking to the media during the annual meeting of China’s legislature, also said that relations with the US have improved since Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden met in November, but that America has not fulfilled its promises.

“If the US always says one thing and does another, where is its credibility as a major power? If the US gets nervous and anxious when it hears the word ‘China,’ where is its confidence as a major power?” he said. “If the US is obsessed with suppressing China, it will eventually harm itself.”