Jakarta, Indonesia –

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi criticized the United States’ vote on the previous UN Gaza ceasefire resolution after holding talks with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi in Jakarta on Thursday.

During the talks, Wang Yi emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Middle East and called on all parties to the conflict to exercise restraint.

The conflict in Gaza has lasted for half a year, causing a rare humanitarian tragedy in the 21st century. The United Nations Security Council responded to the international community’s call and continued to review the Gaza ceasefire draft resolution, but it was repeatedly vetoed by the United States. “.

Wang Yi acknowledged that the Security Council passed a ceasefire resolution in March this year. He said, “This time, the United States did not dare to violate international morality and chose to abstain.”

He added that the United States claimed that the resolution was non-binding, saying, “In the eyes of the United States, international law seems to be a tool that can be used if it finds it useful and discarded if it does not want to use it.”

The United States said it vetoed previous resolutions because they were not related to the release of Hamas hostages.

The two ministers expressed disappointment at the humanitarian disaster caused by the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. “We agree that the UN Security Council ceasefire resolution must be fully and unconditionally implemented,” Wang said.

Both China and Indonesia support Palestine’s formal membership in the United Nations. Currently, the Palestinian Authority is a non-member observer state but has been seeking full membership since 2011.

Indonesia does not recognize Israel and firmly supports the Palestinian cause.

Meet Widodo

When meeting with President Joko Widodo, Wang Yi expressed China’s interest in deepening cooperation and investment in areas such as energy transformation, infrastructure, and refined oil production and sales.

Widodo emphasized the bilateral trade between Indonesia and China and expressed the hope that China would further open its market to Indonesian goods, including resolving disputes over Indonesian agricultural and fishery products.

Widodo also urged the construction of strategic petrochemical projects in North Kalimantan and further cooperation on food security, including replicating Chinese-style planting methods to grow rice, horticultural crops and durian fruits.

China is Indonesia’s largest trading partner, with annual trade volume exceeding US$127 billion. China is also one of the largest foreign investors in Indonesia, with investment volume expected to exceed US$7.4 billion in 2023.

Indonesia and China will discuss details of enhanced cooperation in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara province, on Friday.

Masoudi said that in addition to economic cooperation, the event will also discuss efforts to combat cross-border crime, including cyber fraud.

Wang Yi will also visit Papua New Guinea and Cambodia.

Later on Thursday, Wang met with Widodo and his incoming Indonesian president-elect and current defense minister Prabowo Subianto.

Prabowo won the presidential election in February and, like his predecessors, supported close ties with Beijing while seeking to balance diplomatic relations between China and the United States.

Indonesia’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday that Wang and Prabowo discussed plans for joint military exercises.

Information for this report was obtained in part from Reuters, the Associated Press and AFP.