Beijing: China's foreign minister has told his Iranian counterpart that maintaining peace and stability in the Gulf is best for everyone, after several Arab states cut off ties with Qatar accusing it of supporting ISIS and Iran.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt severed relations with the small Gulf Arab state on Monday. Qatar has denied the charges levelled at it.
Meeting on the sidelines of a regional security summit in Kazakhstan, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that peace and stability in the Gulf accords with the common interests of the region and the international community.
"China upholds that the relevant countries should appropriately resolve the disputes between them," the Chinese foreign ministry cited Wang as saying on Thursday.
The brief statement gave no other details of their talks over what the Chinese foreign ministry described as "the present situation in the Gulf region".
China has traditionally played little role in Middle East conflicts or diplomacy, despite its reliance on the region for oil.
However, it has been trying to get more involved in efforts to end civil wars in both Syria and Yemen, casting itself as an honest broker without the historical baggage of the other permanent members of the UN Security Council.
In March, China played host to the Saudi king and Israeli prime minister in quick succession. China has close ties with Iran too.
The coordinated move against Qatar dramatically escalates a dispute over its support of the Muslim Brotherhood, the world's oldest Islamist movement, and adds accusations that Doha backs the agenda of regional arch-rival Iran.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Richard Pullin)
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt severed relations with the small Gulf Arab state on Monday. Qatar has denied the charges levelled at it.
Meeting on the sidelines of a regional security summit in Kazakhstan, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that peace and stability in the Gulf accords with the common interests of the region and the international community.
The brief statement gave no other details of their talks over what the Chinese foreign ministry described as "the present situation in the Gulf region".
Advertisement
However, it has been trying to get more involved in efforts to end civil wars in both Syria and Yemen, casting itself as an honest broker without the historical baggage of the other permanent members of the UN Security Council.
Advertisement
The coordinated move against Qatar dramatically escalates a dispute over its support of the Muslim Brotherhood, the world's oldest Islamist movement, and adds accusations that Doha backs the agenda of regional arch-rival Iran.
Advertisement
© Thomson Reuters 2017
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Did A Massive Dam In China Alter Earth's Rotation? The Truth Behind Viral Claim China Can't Defeat US If We Revive "American Dream": Vivek Ramaswamy Indian Envoy Assures Support To Bring Back Body Of Citizen Killed In Oman Mosque Shooting Massive Worldwide Microsoft Outage: Flights, Markets, Stock Exchange Down CrowdStrike Falcon Sensor: The Culprit Behind World's Biggest IT Outage "Fix Deployed": CEO Of Firm Behind Global Microsoft Outage Microsoft Outage "Affecting IT Operations" Paris Olympics Organisers In Jaw-Dropping Video, 12-Foot King Cobra Rescued And Released In Karnataka Biden Or Trump, It's Still A Long Wait For Indian 'Dreamers' In US Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.