China receives US invitation to join Trump’s Gaza Board of Peace
The US president has invited a range of world leaders, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan
[BEIJING] China has been invited to join US President Donald Trump’s proposed Board of Peace for Gaza, as he heads to Davos, Switzerland, to advance his plan for the Palestinian enclave.
“China has received the US invitation,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Tuesday (Jan 20), without elaborating on whether Beijing would accept it.
The US president has invited a range of world leaders, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to become founding members of the board.
It is part of his 20-point plan to ensure a lasting peace and reconstruction of Gaza, following the two years of devastating war between Israel and militant group Hamas in the Palestinian territory.
The plan has been criticised by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the details had not been coordinated with his country.
In the past, China has taken steps to reconcile rival Palestinian factions, as it sought to cast itself as a neutral mediator in conflicts around the world.
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Trump has already suggested that he would retaliate against those who reject the invitation. After being informed that French leader Emmanuel Macron would decline his offer, he threatened to impose a crushing tariff on champagne in response.
“I’ll put a 200 per cent tariff on his wines and champagnes and he’ll join,” Trump told reporters.
Argentine President Javier Milei and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney are set to become the founding members of the Gaza committee, they said on Saturday. BLOOMBERG
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