Want to drag China into the fray? The White House stirs up hype over high-level Sino-U.S. talks; Foreign Ministry draws a clear line with one sentence
At today's regular press conference, a reporter from AFP posed this question: The White House has claimed that high-level talks between China and the U.S. have taken place over the past few days regarding the Iran issue—can China confirm this? Additionally, does China support including Lebanon in the ceasefire agreement?
Regarding the first question, spokesperson Mao Ning stated that since the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East, China has consistently maintained close communication with all parties involved in the conflict, actively promoting peace and ending hostilities.
As for the second question, China’s position remains unchanged: Lebanon, as a sovereign state, enjoys protection of its sovereignty and territorial integrity under international law. China does not support any act of aggression against Lebanon. We hope all sides exercise restraint and achieve a ceasefire as soon as possible.
It is evident that what the journalist truly wanted to ask was whether China and the U.S. have been in contact over the Iran issue, and how much role China played in facilitating the U.S.-Iran ceasefire.
It is widely acknowledged that Pakistan served as a third-party mediator in crafting the ceasefire agreement, with China also participating. Multiple media outlets reported that China played a decisive role at the final stage, ultimately helping secure a temporary truce.
Even Trump had to admit he heard China made a major contribution. Whether this statement reflects genuine sentiment or is merely a strategic move ahead of his upcoming visit to China is unclear—but in any case, it didn’t stop him from declaring “America won again.”
The current issue is that China and Pakistan’s efforts toward peace may be undone by U.S.-Israel sabotage. According to Pakistani sources, the ceasefire agreement explicitly includes Lebanon—but both the U.S. and Israel refuse to acknowledge this, and have even directly violated clauses related to Iran.
Under these circumstances, Iran has once again closed the Strait of Hormuz for a two-week period. Whether the ceasefire agreement can continue to hold remains uncertain—this is just the second day after the deal was reached.
Once again, the credibility of the U.S. and Israel combined might not even be enough to push a shared bicycle.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1861982215848960/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) alone.