China slams US for thwarting UN meetings on Palestine-Israel issue

BEIJING -- China on Friday slammed the United States for compelling the UN Security Council to postpone a meeting on the Palestine-Israel issue that was originally scheduled to open Friday.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a daily news briefing that on Monday, the United States expressed opposition to the adoption of a Security Council presidential statement on the Palestine-Israel issue, and it also blocked the issuance of a statement from UN Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday expressing concern about the situation in Palestine.

"Like the international community, China is also gravely concerned about the current escalating situation between Israel and Palestine," said Hua.

She said that, as holder of the rotating UNSC presidency in May, China has been actively mediating and promoted the convening of two emergency consultations of the Security Council to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"The members of the Security Council have generally expressed their concerns and worries about the conflict situation and requested the Security Council to play its due role to promote the stability and cooling of the situation and prevent it from getting out of hand," she said.

Hua said that the United States has taken the opposite position against the international community, and she asked the country to explain why it is doing this.

"I wonder if the U.S. side can give a candid answer to this question. Why is it doing this?" she said.

She said that the United States keeps saying it cares about the human rights of Muslims. Now the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has reoccurred, and a large number of Palestinian Muslims have been affected by the war and are suffering, but the United States shows indifference to their suffering and has been strongly obstructive on the issue.

Meanwhile, it joined with a few of its allies and attempted to organize meaningless meetings on Xinjiang-related issues based on lies and political prejudice, which was actually a political farce, she said.

"The United States should realize that the lives of Palestinian Muslims are equally precious," said the spokesperson.

Hua said that, in the face of the current serious situation, all sides must make every effort to cool the situation, protect the safety and rights and interests of ordinary people, and prevent the crisis from escalating and getting out of control.

"China will continue to push the Security Council to perform its duties in maintaining international peace and security, take action on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at an early date, reiterate its commitment and firm support for a 'two-state solution,' and promote the restoration of peace and stability in the region as soon as possible," said Hua.