Xi Jinping urges resolution to Yemen conflict in call to Saudi king
China's president said efforts should be increased to find a solution to sectarian strife in the Middle Eastern country, which threatens to spread in the region
Efforts should be stepped up to seek a political solution to the crisis in Yemen, China’s President Xi Jinping told Saudi Arabia’s King Salman in a telephone call, the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said on Saturday.
A Saudi-led coalition began an air campaign on March 25 after Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who run most of the country, closed in on the southern port city of Aden and forced the Saudi-backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee to Riyadh.
China, a low-key diplomatic player in the Middle East despite its reliance on oil from the region, has previously expressed concern at the upsurge in violence in Yemen and called for a political solution.
“The situation in Yemen concerns the security and stability of the Middle East, especially the Gulf region, and efforts on the political resolution process for the Yemen issue ought to be speeded up,” Xi said, according to the Foreign Ministry.
All parties should follow the decisions of the United Nations Security Council and proposals by the Gulf Cooperation Council to ensure stability and normalcy is returned to in Yemen as soon as possible, Xi added.
