 China on Tuesday urged Hamas, an Islamic militant group sworn to Israel's destruction, to recognise the Jewish state and return to peace talks.
Zhai Jun, director-general of West Asian and North African Affairs of China's Foreign Ministry, told reporters on Wednesday it respected the people's choice of Hamas, even though it did not agree with its policies. "If you don't recognise a democratically elected government, what kind of democracy is that?" Zhai said after a briefing on the second ministerial meeting of the Sino-Arabic Cooperation Forum which begins later this month in Beijing. "On this basis, we can urge the Hamas government to respect agreements previously signed with Israel, to recognise Israel and to return to talks." Zhai said China had invited the Palestinians to the Sino-Arabic forum. "China has been playing a constructive role in the Middle East, in all its problems," Zhai said.
| I hesitate to point this out, but doesn't Israel have a democratically elected government, too? |
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