China urges resumed Palestine-Israel talks

BEIJING - China on Tuesday reiterated its call for necessary conditions for resuming peace talks between Palestine and Israel.

"Negotiation should be taken as the only way to peace between Palestine and Israel," Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Hua Chunying said, quoting President Xi Jinping.

On Monday, Xi made a four-point proposal to resolve the Palestinian question during his talks with visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"The immediate priority is to take credible steps to stop settlement activities, end violence against innocent civilians and lift the blockade of the Gaza Strip in order to create the necessary conditions for the resumption of peace talks," Hua said at a daily news briefing in response to a question on Xi's proposal.

Hua said China is always firmly opposed to Israel's settlement construction in Palestine's territory occupied by Israel, including the West Bank of the Jordan River and East Jerusalem.

"We always urge the Israeli side to make substantial measures to remove the barrier to peace talks and create necessary conditions for rebuilding mutual trust and restarting the peace talks at an early date between Palestine and Israel," said the spokeswoman.