LIU Jianchao, head of CCP's International Department, echoes Iran and Hamas' talking points, while falsely claiming China condemned the October 7 attack and and lecturing Israel. When asked about Iranian involvement with Hamas and Houthis, he denies and equivocates.
Liu went on to say, "for many, many years, China and Israel have really very good and cooperated, and warm relations with each other." Let me correct him again; it should be "had" in the past tense.
When the next Pew survey is released, and China's favorability ratings in Israel are at an all-time low, I hope China takes a long look in the mirror. Its heinous and cynical exploitation of Israeli suffering to advance its geopolitical interests, as well as its double standard on terrorism, will not be easily forgotten.
Full relevant quotes from the Q&A session with Liu at on January 9, 2024:
Q: Mark Rosen of Advection Growth Capital. Thank you for coming today, Ambassador.
Israel was the first state in the Middle East to recognize the People’s Republic of China in 1950. And over the more recent years, you have developed very strong economic relations with Israel. And in fact are its second-largest trading partner, and I think also manage part of the port of Haifa right now. Yet, after October the 7th, China has not yet condemned the terrorist attack on Israel. And despite the fact that you yourselves have been victims of Islamic terrorism in the past. Could you explain why that is? I understand that you have relations with the Arab countries, with Iran, et cetera. But you could still maintain those relations while still condemning that attack. And would you do so today?
LIU: Let me correct you. Well, let me say that we appreciate the fact that Israel was one of the first countries that recognized China. And for many, many years, China and Israel have really very good and cooperated, and warm relations with each other. And also our peoples share a lot of good emotions towards each other. So that’s the fundamentals of China’s relationship. And when it comes to general picture of Middle East crisis and Middle East issue, China does stand on the side of the Arab countries. I don’t need to explain more on that.
But what I want to correct you is that on the very first day of the October the 7th attack, China did condemn the attack on the civilians. So if you track the record, you will find that. But now, the overuse of force, and the obvious revengeful retaliation by the Israelis on Palestinians is something that is also unacceptable to us. And that results in tremendous humanitarian sufferings and crisis. So we do hope that the crisis, the conflict would come to an end, and the Israelis will stop, you know, behaving in such a manner, and so there could be a restoration of order.
And we—China does see eye-to-eye with many countries in the world that the two-country plan must be adopted. So when you talk about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I do believe that the U.N. resolutions must be adopted. And, you know, the people condemning Hamas, this is correct in a way that the target on the civilians and attack them. But others other side, the Israelis should also think about their behavior in building fences, in the settling on the Palestinian land, on driving the Palestinian people out. So the Palestinian people, they should have the right to come back to their homeland, to restore their sovereignty, and also to establish their own country. So I think that a lot remains to be done. And there needs to be international consensus and also concerted efforts in the shaping of this. Thank you.
FROMAN: Let’s talk about another region. You’ve got close relationships with Iran. You’ve been playing—China’s been playing more of a role in the Middle East, hoping to broker an agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia. We now have Iranian-supported Houthi forces interrupting the flow of ships in the Red Sea. No country is more dependent on the free flow of products from one sea to another than China. Are you concerned about this? And are you urging Iran to urge the Houthis to stop interrupting this important trade route?
LIU: We do stand very strongly for peaceful, you know, navigation of cargo ships in that part of the world, because it’s essential for the world’s economy. But I not talking—or, I’m not commenting on your allegation that, you know, Iran is supporting the Houthis in this particular operation. I was visiting Iran about three or four weeks ago, where we were talking about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. And the—I believe that the Iranians were moving about this conflict in a very prudent way. They say—they were telling me that we were not involved in any kind of support of Hamas in the fight—in the attack on Israel. And they did not really know beforehand that the attack was going to happen. So they don’t—they did not really give any military support or even military advice to Hamas. So I think that they are being very, very prudent in this regard.
FROMAN: So you don’t believe that Iran is—whether they knew about this particular attack—Iran’s supporting Hamas, and training them, equipping them, supporting Hezbollah, directing them, and supporting Houthis—you don’t see Iran playing a significant role in there?
LIU: I think it’s a very influential country in that region. But, you know, we don’t really have the specific information and intelligence about what is going on. But, you know, the Middle East issue is more complicated than just a Palestinian-Israeli conflict. I mean, there are religious factors, you know, racial factors, and, you know, ethnic factors, religious factors as well. So I think that the—that’s why we talk. We’re talking about a comprehensive security concept, when all these concerns and factors should be addressed. Because you can’t really say that we can, you know, fix up only one factor, while leaving behind all the other factors. So I think that the—even with the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians, I think that the world should take a more effective action in stopping the conflict there, and also that the human will not suffer more the loss of lives and also suffering.
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