Senior Executive Vice President of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Zhang Hongli attends a meeting of Group of 20 leading economies' finance ministers and central bankers in Mexico City February 24, 2012. REUTERS/Tomas Bravo/ File Photo
As tensions in the Middle East increase, China’s foreign ministry stated on Monday that it will make every effort to bring peace back to the Palestinian territories as it assumes the presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
“China will do its utmost to encourage the Security Council to fulfil its responsibilities, play its role, build consensus and take responsible and meaningful actions as soon as possible to ease the current crisis and safeguard the safety of civilians in order to restore peace,” Wang Wenbin, the ministry’s spokesperson, said.
China’s statement comes as Israel ratchets up its military offensive against the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
China took over the rotating presidency of the UNSC last week.
The conflict in the Middle East tops the Security Council’s agenda in November, said Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the UN, according to state media.
“It is imperative to promote a cease-fire and halt the fighting, prevent further civilian casualties, prevent a larger-scale humanitarian disaster and prevent the conflict from spilling over,” Zhang was quoted as saying, the China Daily reported.