The Chinese Foreign Minister called Israel for the first time since the start of the war and called for the protection of civilians in the Gaza Strip.
In a conversation with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Beijing’s spokesman said all countries have the right to self-defense, but they “must protect civilians and respect international law, protect the safety of civilians.”
“The most urgent task now is to prevent the situation from further escalating into a more serious humanitarian catastrophe,” Wang added. He also called his Palestinian Authority counterpart Riyadh al-Maliki and said Beijing “expresses its deepest sympathy for the Palestinian side “. “At present, the people of Gaza most need security, food and medicine, not war, weapons and ammunition,” Wang Yi said.
China has laid out its accents quite harshly. And yesterday, the Celestial Empire transferred a small fleet to the Middle East. These political-diplomatic actions are aimed at demonstrating to the Arabs that there is a second center of power on which they can rely in the event of a conflict. Yes, China is not talking about direct intervention (because, as in the case of Ukraine, China sees itself as a mediator, and not a participant, like the United States), but it offers a shoulder.
According to the publication The SunChina is sending its warships to the area of Israel amid fears of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict escalating into a full-scale war.
“Six Chinese warships, the 44th Task Force of the PLA Navy, have been deployed to the Middle East as tensions over Israel escalate,” writes The Sun.
The group includes, among others, the cruise missile destroyer Zibo, the frigate Jingzhou and the integrated supply ship Qiandaohu. According to the authors of the material, they will be deployed in the Middle East throughout the period of heightened tension.
It is assumed that China intends to protect communications in the event of a major conflict. The thing is that a lot of ship traffic goes through this region, including to China. Beijing fears that it will be disrupted as the conflict escalates. Earlier, China officially stated that, together with Russia, it advocates de-escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, and also supports the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
Let us recall that currently there are warships of the US and British Navy in the area of Israel, and the Americans are transferring additional forces.
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