China urges support for Palestine’s UN membership bid

Amman: China on Monday called for an end to opposition to Palestine's full United Nations membership, ahead of a possible vote on the issue at the UN Security Council. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said his country urged world nations concerned not to continue obstructing resolutions on Palestine's accession to the United Nations and opposing "the moral and humanitarian conscience of the international community", according to state News Agency Xinhua. Beijing renewed support for an independent Palestinian state after the UN General Assembly (UNGA) voted on Friday by a wide majority to grant new "rights and privileges" to Palestine, and called on the Security Council to reconsider Palestine's request to become a full member of the UN. The world body passed the resolution by a vote of 143-9 with 25 abstentions. The United States voted against it, along with Israel and seven other countries. Palestine applied for full membership in 2011, but the United States vetoed it, However, on November 29, 2012, it obtained observer status at the United Nations. Last month, Washington used its veto power at the Security Council to kill an Algerian resolution calling on UNGA to accept the State of Palestine as a full member of the UN. Source: Jordan News Agency