China Sounds Alarm: Keep Mideast War Out of Horn of Africa
(MENAFN) China moved Thursday to head off a widening of the Middle East conflict, declaring that the Horn of Africa should “never become an arena for geopolitics.”
The stance came out of talks held in Beijing on Wednesday between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Abdoulkader Houssein Omar, Djibouti’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
Wang and Omar held an “in-depth exchange of views on the Horn of Africa situation and the safety of shipping lanes across the Red Sea,” Mao said.
Both men judged that the latest surge in Red Sea tensions threatens the world economy, hitting Horn of Africa nations hardest and deepening problems like piracy and terrorism. In Mao’s words, they “agreed that the recent escalation of tensions in the Red Sea has posed a serious threat to the global economy, especially the economic activities of regional countries in the Horn of Africa and exacerbated security challenges such as piracy and terrorism.”
Any further spread of regional strife into the Red Sea “is in no one’s interest,” Mao said, adding that the two ministers urged “relevant parties to observe the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, abide by the basic norms of international relations and avoid escalating tensions in the region through diplomatic means including dialogue.”
She summed up the shared position this way: “Both sides agreed that the Horn of Africa should never become an arena for geopolitics and the Middle East conflict should not spread to the Horn of Africa,” she added.
Safe passage was another priority. Wang and Omar attach “great importance to the freedom of navigation across the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb Strait and stress that the right of navigation that the commercial ships from all countries are entitled to under international law should be respected,” Mao said.
On the wider crisis, the ministers argued that calming the Middle East situation “is the key to settling security challenges in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea.” They also renewed backing for restoring the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people.
On Gaza, they said: “The ceasefire agreement (in Gaza) should be upheld, continued efforts should be made for lasting peace in Gaza,” and pressed for implementation of the two-state solution as set out in relevant UN resolutions.
The stance came out of talks held in Beijing on Wednesday between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Abdoulkader Houssein Omar, Djibouti’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
Wang and Omar held an “in-depth exchange of views on the Horn of Africa situation and the safety of shipping lanes across the Red Sea,” Mao said.
Both men judged that the latest surge in Red Sea tensions threatens the world economy, hitting Horn of Africa nations hardest and deepening problems like piracy and terrorism. In Mao’s words, they “agreed that the recent escalation of tensions in the Red Sea has posed a serious threat to the global economy, especially the economic activities of regional countries in the Horn of Africa and exacerbated security challenges such as piracy and terrorism.”
Any further spread of regional strife into the Red Sea “is in no one’s interest,” Mao said, adding that the two ministers urged “relevant parties to observe the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, abide by the basic norms of international relations and avoid escalating tensions in the region through diplomatic means including dialogue.”
She summed up the shared position this way: “Both sides agreed that the Horn of Africa should never become an arena for geopolitics and the Middle East conflict should not spread to the Horn of Africa,” she added.
Safe passage was another priority. Wang and Omar attach “great importance to the freedom of navigation across the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb Strait and stress that the right of navigation that the commercial ships from all countries are entitled to under international law should be respected,” Mao said.
On the wider crisis, the ministers argued that calming the Middle East situation “is the key to settling security challenges in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea.” They also renewed backing for restoring the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people.
On Gaza, they said: “The ceasefire agreement (in Gaza) should be upheld, continued efforts should be made for lasting peace in Gaza,” and pressed for implementation of the two-state solution as set out in relevant UN resolutions.
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