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China 'shocked' by killing, urges peace

(China Daily/Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-29 07:42

KUWAIT CITY - China on Sunday joined the international community in calling for peace in Gaza.

Vice-Premier Li Keqiang called for military operations in Gaza Strip to cease immediately and effective measures to be taken to ease the tension.

Li, who is paying a four-day official visit to Kuwait, called for peace during his meeting with Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah.

He said China is "shocked" by the military operation in Gaza and it "runs counter to the efforts made by the international community".

Li urged the two sides, Israel and the Palestinians, mainly Hamas, to resolve their differences through dialogue and realize peace and stability in the Middle East as early as possible.

"China supports the efforts made by all parties, especially the Arab countries, to realize a comprehensive, just peace in the region," he said.

Zhang Xiaodong, an expert on Middle East affairs at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said violence will not solve the long-standing problem in Gaza.

"Only after the two sides realize that violence makes no sense and they have no other choices except peaceful dialogue, it could came to end," he said.

Persuasion and help from other countries, such as humanitarian aid, can only ease the suffering of residents living in the war-torn region, but the final resolution relies on the two sides, Zhang said.

Appeals for peace poured in from various countries and organizations, including:

The UN Security Council:

"The members of the Security Council expressed serious concern at the escalation of the situation in Gaza and called for an immediate halt to all violence," Croatian Ambassador Neven Jurica, president of the council said. "The members called on the parties to stop immediately all military activities."

European Union

"We are very concerned at the events in Gaza. We call for an immediate ceasefire and urge everybody to exert maximum restraint," a spokesman for European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said. "Everything must be done to renew the truce."

The United States

"The cease-fire should be restored immediately. The United States calls on all concerned to address the urgent humanitarian needs of the innocent people of Gaza," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement on Saturday. The US has blamed the militant group Hamas for breaking a cease-fire and attacking Israel, which retaliated with strikes of its own.

US President-elect Barack Obama "is closely monitoring global events, including the situation in Gaza, but there is one president at a time," Brooke Anderson, Obama's national security spokeswoman, said on Saturday.