The UN Security Council held an extraordinary meeting yesterday about the Palestinian question. China's Permanent Representative to the UN Ma Zhaoxu made a speech at the meeting.

China's Permanent Representative to the UN Ma Zhaoxu said that they expect israel and Palestine to take concrete steps for the solution and defuse tension in order to stop military operations.

Stating that China closely follows the Palestinian situation, Ma said that they are particularly concerned about the risk of clashes in the Gaza Strip.

Ma stressed that China always insists on resolving Palestinian-israeli disputes through peace talks, opposing any acts of violence that increase tension and target civilians.

Referring to the importance of the Security Council and all interested parties to get out of the idea of peace, Ma noted that appropriate conditions must be set for the realization of stability and for the restart of dialogue.

Ma stated that China's Special Envoy for the Middle East Issue Gong Xiaosheng recently visited Palestine and israel, and had a meeting with the UN Middle East Peace Process Special Coordinator Nickolay Mladenov.

Stating that the international community insist on the "two-state solution plan", Ma said the related resolutions of the UN indicated that it should play a constructive role in the political solution of the Palestinian question in the direction of widely accepted consensus in the international community such as "peace against the land" principle and "Arab Peace Initiative".

Ma indicated that China always supported the establishment of a Palestinian state with full sovereignty and independence, based on the borders set in 1967, with the capital East Jerusalem.

ILKHA