China says ready to facilitate Palestine-Israel peace talks

Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang has told his counterparts from Palestine and Israel that China is ready to broker peace talks between them in Beijing’s latest move to emerge as a regional mediator following its role in helping Iran and Saudi Arabia reestablish ties after several years.

Qin held separate phone calls with Palestinian foreign minister Riyad Al-Maliki, and his Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, during which he spoke about “steps to resume peace talks”, telling the former that China was “willing to play an active role in this regard” and conveying to the latter that “China is ready to provide convenience for this”.

“China encourages both Israel and Palestine to show political courage and take steps to resume peace talks, and China is ready to provide convenience for this,” Qin, who is also state councillor, said Monday, according to the official news agency, Xinhua.

“All parties should maintain calm and restraint, and stop excessive and provocative words and deeds,” Qin told Cohen, adding that the “…fundamental way out is to resume peace talks and implement the ‘two-state solution’.”

Qin told Maliki China “supports the strategic autonomy of Middle Eastern countries”, adding that China is willing to continue to make contributions to peace and stability in the Middle East.

Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations have been stalled since 2014 and this month has witnessed renewed violence and deaths in the region, heightening tension even as Tel Aviv grapples with large-scale domestic protests.

Qin reiterated to Maliki that China is highly concerned about the recent intensification of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the escalation of tensions.

China, he said, has urged the “UN Security Council to hold consultations and communicate closely with the international community to try to cool down the situation”.

China has no selfish interests on the Israel-Palestine issue, and only hopes that Israel and Palestine can coexist peacefully and safeguard regional peace and stability,” Qin told Cohen.

Beijing is projecting itself as an international broker of peace after bringing hostile Tehran and Riyadh together for talks.

The foreign ministers from the two countries met in Beijing earlier this month for the first formal gathering of their top diplomats. Iran is said to have reopened its embassy in Saudi Arabia earlier this month for the first time in seven years.

Qin made it a point to mention that as well in his phone call with Cohen, saying Saudi Arabia and Iran recently “…restored diplomatic relations through dialogue, setting a good example of overcoming differences through dialogue”.

China floated the 12-point peace proposal, titled “China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis” in February but has so far failed to stop Russia’s invasion of the East European country.

In fact, Beijing’s close ties with Moscow means that it will not be seen as – or expected to be – a neutral player to broker a peace deal despite its assertions of neutrality in the conflict.

There’s also the wider Western concern that China could soon supply lethal weapons to ally Russia under their “no limits friendship”.