Interview: Palestinians appreciate Chinese support for their national rights, says diplomat

RAMALLAH, May 28 (Xinhua) -- "We highly appreciate Chinese support for the national rights of the Palestinian people, especially since it always calls for peace in the Middle East," a senior Palestinian diplomat has said.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Riyad Mansour, permanent observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, highlighted China's support for Palestine's full membership in the United Nations.

"China is one of the main countries that voted in favor of Palestine in the UN General Assembly in order to obtain full membership (for Palestine)," he said.

"All the time, China made big efforts to help Palestinians obtain their full diplomatic, political and economic rights," he added.

Back in 1988, the Palestine National Council meeting in Algiers proclaimed the establishment of the State of Palestine. With Norway, Ireland and Spain announcing on May 22 that they would officially recognize Palestine as a state, some 140 countries have recognized Palestine's statehood.

However, in 2011 and this year again, the United States vetoed Palestine's full membership in the United Nations.

"Countries' recognition of the Palestinian state increases the pressure on the obstructing party in the Security Council, which has a U.S. veto regarding full membership of the State of Palestine, until it responds to this huge number of countries that have recognized Palestine," Mansour said.

Palestine's full membership is also "tantamount" to resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on the two-state solution, he added.

Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward a three-point proposal for the settlement of the Palestinian question during his talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Beijing in June 2023. The two leaders also announced the establishment of a strategic partnership between China and Palestine.

"The most important thing is that China attaches great importance to the Palestinian issue and raises it to the level of important priorities on the Chinese foreign policy agenda," Mansour said.

As the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict has lasted more than seven months, China is also playing a more active role by calling more than once on both parties to negotiate, and making more efforts for reconciliation between the Palestinian parties of Fatah and Hamas, he added.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, and China will host the 10th ministerial meeting of that forum.

Mansour believes that the forum will succeed this year based on the development of Chinese-Arab relations, especially as China relies primarily on mutual benefits, instead of imposing its control by force, or even interfering in other countries' affairs.

China "does not have agendas of a colonial or blackmailing nature for the countries of the region, and it serves as a close ally for the Arab countries," he said.