2月12日，上海国际问题研究院举办了“国际组织与巴勒斯坦问题”视频会议，会议邀请了来自巴勒斯坦政策与调查研究中心主任哈里尔·史卡基、前联合国相关中东问题顾问约翰·贝尔、中国社会科学院西亚非洲研究所中东室主任唐志超研究员、中国社会科学院西亚非洲研究所余庆国研究员、上海国际问题研究院西亚非洲研究中心金良祥副研究员等国内外相关领域内专家学者进行讨论。会议主要探讨了《亚伯拉罕协议》背景下巴勒斯坦问题最新进展以及国际组织中的巴勒斯坦问题。中心陈越洋副教授参会并以“中国对巴勒斯坦政策”为题作发言。
主要发言内容如下：
The First China-Arab States Summit successfully concluded last December as a milestone in the history of China-Arab relations. Following the summit, the two sides jointly released the Riyadh Declarationin which the Palestine question was discussed at length in the fourth of its twenty-four Articles.
The two sides both agree and emphasize that the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict is central issue in Middle East.The two-state solution is a bottom line of international justice, on which there should be no backtracking. China supports the establishment of an independent state of Palestine that enjoys full sovereignty on the basis of the 1967 borders and with east Jerusalem as its capital. China plays its due role in bringing about a comprehensive, just and enduring solution to the Palestinian question. The Arab’s side expressesits appreciation to President Xi for his four-point visions and to China for a series of initiatives and proposals on the settlement of the Palestine question.
China has always been paying close attention to the situation in the Middle East and hot button issues of the region. Many issues have been intertwined with nationalities, religions, geopolitical relations, external powers and other factors, and they have exerted influence on each other for a long time, which severely imperilsregional security and stability. Though some problems have been mitigated, it is never easy to solve such complicated political issues. This is exactly the same case for Palestine. China always cares about the situation in the Middle East and keeps interacting with countries in the region in bilateral and multilateral relations and through the United Nations. If we visit the official website of the Office of China to Palestine, we can see thatthe two countries have maintained close interactions.
China is concerned that the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict would heighten the regional tension, which demonstrates China as a responsible major country. In recent times, there is mounting tension between Israel and Palestine with violent conflict exacerbating the situation in the region. Violence has continuously broken out in the West Bank. In 2022, more than 150 Palestinians and 30 Israelis were killed according to the United Nations, which has been the highest death toll since 2005. On Jan 26 this year, Israeli forces attacked a Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. This operation, said to be the deadliest one by Israeli forces in the West Bank in more than 20 years, led to at least 9 Palestinian deaths and 20 injuries. Both Palestine and Israel have taken a tough stance, with a recent statement from the Palestinian presidency that the country has decided to stop security coordination with Israel due to continuous Israeli attacks against the Palestinian people and violations of agreements signed by both sides. Israel, in a tit-for-tat manner, responded with a series of punitive-and counter-measures, including strengthening Jewish settlements, sealing off homes of Palestinian attackers and revoking social security benefits of their family members. China believes that the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict concerns not only the two countries, as ongoing conflict threatens regional security and thus world peace, which China hopes can be avoided. During the China-Arab States Summit, President Xi met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Xi reaffirmed China’s firm support for Palestinian people and that China would continue to provide humanitarian assistance to Palestine.
China's attitude about the Palestine question is very clear: it has been stressing the need for a just, comprehensive and enduring solution to it, which is in line with the interests and hope of all countries in the region. Considering the rising tensions between Israel and Palestine, China supported the UN Security Council holding the Briefing on the Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestine question, in active response to the reasonable propositions from Palestinian and Arab friends, and urged the Security Council to play its due role on the Palestine question. In several of its recent statements, China again called for a just, comprehensive and enduring solution. Perhaps someone is wondering why China is so insistent. Here, I would like to explain with an analogy. The Israeli–Palestinian conflict remains unsolved for a long time, just like a fish bone stuck in your throat. As long as the bone is there, it will cause discomfort. Even if the bone may turn softer as time goes by, and will not stop you from drinking or eating, you know the bone is still there—this is very disturbing. That is why China has been paying close attention to the issue and emphasized a comprehensive solution, instead of shifting focus from one issue to another. We want to help the Middle East achieve comprehensive and enduring peace, and we have no intention of filling the so-called vacuum left by the US, because peace is in the interest and wishes of us, of all mankind.