EU-China Summit: Middle East, “Israel’s right to defend itself, protection of civilians, improving the situation in Gaza”

“Our relationship with China is complex and we have a responsibility to make it work”, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the end of the EU-China Summit held in Beijing today. “We agreed that it is in our joint interest to have balanced trade relations. And we need to address challenges in a world with increasing geopolitical frictions. We must all work to ensure Russia stops its war of aggression against Ukraine”. The leaders discussed Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The EU “called on China to use its influence on Russia to stop its war of aggression” with a view to achieving peace. As for the Middle East, the EU “condemned in the strongest terms the indiscriminate and brutal terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel. The EU reiterated Israel’s right to defend itself in line with international humanitarian law. Both sides agreed on the importance of ensuring the protection of all civilians, improving the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza”. The EU and China confirmed their commitment to the two-state solution. The EU “reiterated its deep concerns about the human rights situation in China, notably systemic human rights violations in Xinjiang and Tibet, forced labour, the treatment of human rights defenders and persons belonging to minorities, as well as the continued erosion of fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong”.
Valentina Bombelli