A Chinese envoy on Thursday called for efforts to end escalating tensions in the Middle East and and tackle the root cause of the regional conflicts.
At a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East and Palestine, Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, warned that the Middle East's landscape is undergoing profound changes, with hotspot issues' spillover effects continuing to undermine regional security and development.
He said people across the region increasingly aspire for peace over war, dialogue over confrontation, fairness over hegemony.
No matter how complex the situation is, the path to peace remains right beneath our feet, the envoy stressed.
He pointed out that a war between the United States and Iran should never have occurred, and that threatening the use of force or reigniting conflict is particularly ill-advised.
The United States and Iran should resume dialogue and negotiations as soon as possible to reach a comprehensive agreement acceptable to both sides, thereby ensuring the safety and unimpeded flow of international shipping lanes and maintaining the stability of global production and supply chains, he noted.
Fu said the situation in Yemen has recently escalated significantly, with intense conflicts erupting across multiple fronts and attacks carried out against facilities such as airports in Saudi Arabia.
Their negative impacts have spread more rapidly, he warned.
"China condemns these attacks, which have resulted in significant casualties. We express grave concern over the escalation of conflicts. China consistently opposes attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure. We call for avoiding actions that could lead to an escalation of regional tensions. The use of force is not the ultimate solution. We urge all parties to resolve differences and disputes through dialogue and negotiation, with the goal of achieving regional peace and stability at an early date," said Fu.
The envoy said that the Palestinian question has always been at the heart of the Middle East issue and must never be ignored or marginalized, adding that although a year has passed since the ceasefire agreement for Gaza was reached, a lasting ceasefire, large-scale humanitarian aid, and post-war recovery and reconstruction have yet to be realized; peace remains a distant prospect.
China urges all parties, Israel in particular, to earnestly and fully implement the ceasefire agreement and to stop all military operations in Gaza, he said.
Fu emphasized that China has always been a builder of peace, a promoter of stability and a contributor to development in the Middle East, calling on the international community to uphold a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable outlook on global security, and to work toward building a new security architecture in the Middle East, for the purpose of securing a peaceful future for the region.
China calls for de-escalation of conflicts in Middle East
