On April 6, the leading Icelandic newspaper Morgunblaðið carried an article by Ambassador He Rulong entitled "Overcome Difficulties in a Turbulent World Like Passengers in the same boat".
The full text is as follows:
Currently, our world is going through much turbulence and humanity facing many challenges. The global economy was weighed down by protectionism and the abuse of the security concept, and the international system was impaired by unilateralism and bloc politics. In the past five months, the whole world has witnessed unprecedented bloodshed in Gaza. The recent escalation and spillover of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the ongoing tension in the Red Sea once again demonstrate that the question of Palestine is at the heart of the Middle East issue. More than 31,000 Palestinian civilians had died in this humanitarian crisis, 72% of whom were women and children. Hundreds of thousands of women were displaced, lacking basic survival support and security guarantee. Many were facing death, hunger, and diseases, which had plunged them into the abyss of fear, despair, and anger. Complicated deliveries, stillborn births and malnutrition-induced deaths can be tragically found everywhere. With these heart-troubling facts and despair permeating entire Gaza, the Palestinian-Israeli region is trapped in a vicious cycle of retaliation.
Generations of the Palestinian people have been displaced, unable to return to their home to this day. This is the longest-lasting injustice in our world. At the press conference of the Second Session of the 14th National People's Congress of China, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Mr. Wang Yi gave a comprehensive briefing over China's position: firstly, China supports Palestine's full membership in the U.N., and urge certain U.N. Security Council member to stop laying obstacles to that end. Secondly, the two-State solution is the only way to break the vicious cycle of Palestinian-Israeli conflicts, and the international society is supposed to work out a timetable and road map for the two-State solution. Thirdly, China will continue to work with the international community to restore peace, save lives, and uphold justice. In response to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, China has stood firm on the side of fairness and justice all along, pushed the U.N. Security Council to adopt the first resolution since the latest conflict broke out, and provided multiple batches of aid, including humanitarian cash assistance, food and medicine, to the people in Gaza.
Serving the same purpose as China's approach, Iceland has been making its own efforts to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and rescue civilians in Gaza with earnest actions. In addition to making donations to Palestine through various channels, Iceland had also seen its MFA Working Group to Egypt taking back 72 Icelandic residence permit holders from Gaza for family reunions, of whom 24 adults and 48 children. There is no distinction between noble and humble lives, and people's aspiration for peace and development should be the same across the world, regardless of race, nationality, religion or ethnicity.
The evolution of the international situation in recent years shows again and again that the number-one reality in today's world is that all countries rise and fall together, and that the sure path to meeting the challenges is mutual assistance and win-win cooperation. Facing various global challenges coming our way, countries should rise above their differences in history, culture, geography and system, and work together to protect the Earth, the only inhabitable planet for us all, and make it a better place.
In February, the Embassy of China in Iceland held a Chinese Wu Opera Show under the umbrella of "Warm Welcome to 2024 Chinese New Year" and through that show the Embassy was able to raise some fund for the volcano-impacted Grindavík. "Even though one's own friends are miles apart, there is no distance if sharing a heart," the line Mayor Fannar quoted from a Chinese classical poem demonstrated not only his appreciation of the Chinese friends, but also stood as a vivid epitome to the significance of the Community of Shared Future for Mankind. The Chinese people stand willing to join hands with their Icelandic counterparts to build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security, and common prosperity.