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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on May 17, 2021
2021-05-17 19:00

CCTV: Recent days have seen a continued escalation of Palestine-Israel conflict. On May 16, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, as the president of the UN Security Council for May, chaired an open debate on the situation. What consensus has been reached during the meeting?

Zhao Lijian: Recently, tensions in Palestine are flaring up, and a conflict of the largest scale since 2014 took place between Israel and Palestine. As the president of the UNSC for May, China worked for two UNSC emergency consultations and drafted the press statement. On that basis, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi chaired the UN Security Council Open Debate on "The Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question" on May 16 to work toward a deescalation of the situation.

State Councilor Wang Yi put forward a four-point proposal regarding the Palestine-Israel situation, pointing out that ceasefire and cessation of violence is the top priority and all parties, especially Israel, are urged to exercise restraint and stop hostilities immediately. Humanitarian assistance is an urgent need and all parties are urged to step up humanitarian assistance to Palestine to spare no effort to avoid humanitarian disaster. International support is a due obligation and the international community, especially the Security Council, is called on to take vigorous actions to deescalate and cool-down the situation. The "two-state solution" is the fundamental way forward, and Palestine and Israel should be supported to resume peace talks at an early date and advance the political settlement of the Palestine question.

The overwhelming majority of UNSC members spoke with a common voice: all called for an immediate ceasefire and preventing a full-blown crisis; all required protecting civilians and avoiding more casualties; all stick to political settlement and called on Palestine and Israel to resume peace talks on the basis of the "two-state solution" at an early date; all believed that the Security Council should speak in a unanimous voice, advance the peace talks process in a just manner and work for the peaceful coexistence of Palestine and Israel. We urge the US to shoulder its fair share of responsibilities, take a just stance, and work with the majority of the international community to support the Security Council in playing its due role in easing the situation, rebuilding trust and advancing political settlement.

As the president of the Security Council, China will continue to push the Council to fulfill its duty, play its role and make due contributions to the settlement of the Palestinian question in a comprehensive, just and durable manner.

Al Jazeera: The international community is following closely the situation of civilians including children and women who died from the bombings in Gaza. The remarks made by State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi yesterday caused a sensation in the Arab world. However, some people hold the view that China didn't criticize Israel's moves in explicit terms. My colleagues in Gaza lost their office because of the Israeli bombardment. What's China's position on Israel's action?

Zhao Lijian: I understand your care and concern over the Israel-Palestine situation. China and the wider international community have paid much attention to and are gravely concerned about the escalating situation. As the president of the Security Council for May, China has been actively playing a mediating role. We worked for the convening of two emergency consultations at the Security Council to discuss the Israel-Palestine conflict and drafted the press statement. Yesterday, or late last night to be precise, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi chaired the UN Security Council Open Debate on "The Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question" and put forward a four-point proposal on the Palestine-Israel situation, to work toward a deescalation of the situation. I just briefed you on China's proposals and the meeting. Overall, the response of the international community toward the meeting is positive. The opinion you cited is held by only a few.

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the use of force cannot ensure peace or tranquility. Violence can only bring more seeds of hatred. China strongly condemns violence against civilians and once again urge parties to the conflict to immediately cease military activities and hostilities and stop such moves as air strikes, ground offensives and rocket launches that aggravate the situation. In particular, Israel should exercise restraint, earnestly observe relevant UN resolutions, stop demolition of Palestinian homes and the eviction of Palestinian people, discontinue its settlement expansion, put an end to violence, threats and provocations against Muslims, and maintain and respect the historical status quo of the holy sites in Jerusalem.

I have to stress that the overwhelming majority of UNSC members spoke with one voice: all believed that the Security Council should speak with a unanimous voice, advance the peace talks process in a just manner and work for the peaceful coexistence of Palestine and Israel. But regrettably, due to the obstruction of one country, the Security Council has been unable to speak with one voice. We call on the US to shoulder its due responsibilities, take an unbiased stance, and support the Security Council in playing its due role in easing tensions, rebuilding trust and advancing political settlement.

As the rotating president of the Security Council, China will continuously work to ensure that the Council fulfills its duty, plays its role and makes due contributions to the comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian question.

Sky News: NASA criticized China for the uncontrolled reentry of its Long March rocket, saying it's irresponsible. What steps has China taken to make sure launches in the future are more responsible?

Zhao Lijian: Relevant remarks by the US side are totally groundless and make no sense at all.

Global Times: China landed its first rover to Mars, Tianwen-1, on May 15th. NASA Associate Administrator tweeted his congratulations, saying that he looks forward to "the important contributions this mission will make to humanity's understanding of the Red Planet". The head of Russia's state space corporation Rascosmos applauded this as "a great success" of China's fundamental space research program. Do you have any comment?

Zhao Lijian: All eyeballs were drawn to the successful landing of Tianwen-1 probe. Besides the US and Russia as you mentioned, the European Space Agency, and other aerospace institutions and experts from France, Austria, Argentina and South Africa also expressed warm congratulations to the Chinese side. We sincerely appreciate that.

As President Xi Jinping stressed in his congratulatory message, the landing marks an important step in China's interstellar exploration and a