By Nie Shuyi
聂舒翼
On May 16, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi welcomed representatives from Palestine and Israel to hold direct negotiations in China at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) open debate on “The Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question” via video link. As the escalating Palestine-Israel conflict risks getting out of control, the Chinese side’s remarks drew close attention from the international community.
5月16日，中国国务委员兼外长王毅在主持联合国安理会巴以冲突问题紧急公开会时表示，欢迎巴以双方谈判代表来华举行直接谈判。在巴以冲突持续升级、有走向失控危险之际，中方的这一表态引发国际舆论高度关注。
The Chinese side's remarks remind the international community of the importance of the Palestine-Israel issue for Middle Eastern and even the global security. For many years, the US and some regional countries have put their own geopolitical interests over the regional peace and security and marginalized the Palestine-Israel issue in the Middle East and international community, leaving it in suspense without any progress. But in fact, the Palestine-Israel issue not only concerns the two conflicting parties but is also a powder keg concerning ethnic, religious and geopolitical issues in the Middle East.
中方的表态，再次提醒国际社会巴以问题对中东乃至全球安全的重要性。过去多年，包括美国和一些地区国家，将本国地缘政治利益放在地区和平与安全利益之前，巴以问题在中东和国际社会被边缘化，这导致巴以问题在过去很长一段时间没有任何进展。但实际上，巴以问题不仅仅是巴勒斯坦与以色列之间的矛盾，更是中东民族、宗教、地缘政治等一系列矛盾的集合点。
Sun Degang, a researcher at the Institute of International Studies, Fudan University, holds that the Palestine-Israel issue bears heavily on the overall situation, including Palestine and Israel themselves, the surrounding countries, and even other Islamic countries. China’s insistence that it holds the key to the Middle East issue reminds the international community that this issue should neither be forgotten nor neglected.
复旦大学国际问题研究院研究员孙德刚认为，巴以问题是一个全局性的问题，不仅影响到巴以内部，也影响到周边国家，甚至是其他伊斯兰国家，中方坚持巴以问题是中东问题的核心，也是提醒国际社会，巴以问题不能被遗忘，也不能被忽略。
The remarks of the Chinese side showcase China’s sense of responsibility as a major country. China, as the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council for May, gives top priority to the current tension in the Middle East and pushes the Security Council to deliberate the Palestinian question many times. China has been actively pushing for a comprehensive, just, and enduring solution to the Palestine-Israel issue all these years.
中方的表态，展现了中国在巴以问题上的大国担当。中方担任安理会轮值主席以来，把应对当前中东紧张局势作为重中之重，推动安理会多次审议巴勒斯坦问题。中国多年来一直积极推动巴以问题全面、公正、持久的解决。
In 2013, when Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, he put forth the four-point proposal on resolving the Palestinian question. They are: upholding the correct direction of building an independent Palestine State and peaceful co-existence between Palestine and Israel; taking negotiation as the only way to realize peace between the two sides; adhering to principles such as “land for peace”; and the international community should provide an important guarantee for advancing the peace process. When Abbas visited China again in 2017, President Xi suggested initiating a China-Palestine-Israel dialogue mechanism. During Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s six-state tour in the Middle East in March this year, as well as the recent Security Council open debate, he welcomed representatives of the two sides to come to China for direct talks, demonstrating China’s political support in promoting the settlement of the issue.
2013年，中国国家主席习近平在北京同巴勒斯坦总统阿巴斯举行会谈时，就推动解决巴勒斯坦问题提出四点主张：坚持巴勒斯坦独立建国、巴以两国和平共处这一正确方向；将谈判作为实现巴以和平的唯一途径；坚持“土地换和平”等原则不动摇；国际社会应该为推进和平进程提供重要保障。2017年，习近平主席在阿巴斯访华时就推动解决巴勒斯坦问题再次提出四点主张，并倡议启动中巴以三方对话机制。王毅外长在今年3月访问中东六国和此次安理会公开会上，都表示中方欢迎巴以谈判代表来华进行直接谈判，凸显了中方从政治层面对推动解决巴以问题的支持。
China’s remarks remind the international community to address the Palestine-Israel issue in a just and fair manner. The main reason that the Palestine-Israel issue has remained unsolved for so many years is that the US always puts its interests above the common interests of the international community. One of the direct causes for the recent conflict is that Israel is trying to evict Palestinian residents living in East Jerusalem and build a Jewish settlement there. Israel’s aggressiveness has everything to do with the Trump administration’s extreme favoritism in the past few years, due to which Palestine once stopped the comprehensive dialogue and cooperation with Israel, which aggravated their confrontation.
中方的表态，也提醒国际社会要以公平正义的立场推动巴以问题解决。巴以问题多年来迟迟难以解决，长期将私利置于国际社会共同利益之上的美国难辞其咎。此次巴以冲突的直接诱因之一，就是以色列意图驱逐东耶路撒冷的巴勒斯坦居民，兴建犹太人定居点。以色列这种激进的冒进举动，与过去几年美国特朗普政府极度偏袒以色列的中东政策有紧密联系。正是在美国不再“表面中立”的情况下，巴勒斯坦一度中断了与以色列的全面对话和相关合作，加剧了双方的对抗态势。
During this round of conflict, the Biden administration, while failing to declare a clear stance on the situation, has repeatedly stressed Israel’s right to self-defense and kept obstructing the adoption of a joint statement at the Security Council. As the Palestine-Israel conflict keeps escalating, the international community should stand together in unity on the side of peace and justice, of morality and righteousness, and on the right side of history. That’s the right way of implementing true multilateralism.
此次巴以冲突中，美国政府不但迟迟未能就局势进行表态，还一再强调“以色列拥有自卫权”，并一再阻挠联合国安理会通过联合声明。面对巴以冲突不断升级，国际社会应该也必须团结一致，站在和平正义一边，站在公道良知一边，站在历史正确一边，践行真正的多边主义。
The recent conflict is a continuation of the thousand-year-long struggle between the Arabians and the Jews and also an outbreak of the piled-up conflicts between Palestine and Israel since the Gaza War in 2014. While the world’s biggest “powder keg” risks detonation, the Security Council members and the international community should put up a united front to advance the Palestine-Israel peace talks on the principle of fairness and justice and make utmost efforts to help them realize peaceful co-existence.
本轮巴以冲突，既是阿拉伯人与犹太人千年历史斗争的延续，也是2014年加沙战争以来巴以之间众多矛盾积累叠加的一次总爆发。在世界最大的“火药桶”被引爆的危急时刻，安理会成员和国际社会应发出一致声音，公正推进巴以和谈进程，努力推动巴以两国实现和平共处。
Editor's note: This article is originally published on haiwainet.cn, which is the website of Overseas Edition of the People's Daily. The article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
