Beijing, January 22
China has said no to the invitation by the United States to join the Board of Peace, underlining that Beijing stands firmly committed to the international system with the United Nations at the core.
The remarks were shared by Yu Jing, Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India in a post on X on Thursday.
Attributing it to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), she said, "Spokesperson of MOFA: China has received the United States' invitation to join the Board of Peace. China always practices true multilateralism. No matter how the international landscape may evolve, China will stay firmly committed to safeguarding the international system with the UN at its core, the international order based on international law, and the basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. "
The statement comes as US President Donald Trump is looking to form the Gaza Board of Peace officially this week on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
Addressing reporters, Trump called it the most prestigious board to be ever assembled, and took a dig at the United Nations saying that the peace board would get more work done than the UN. He further noted that peace in the Middle East was attained through "taking out" the Iranian nuclear threat.
He said, "We want everybody. We want all nations. We want all nations where people have control, people have power, that we're never going to have a problem. This is the greatest board ever assembled. And everybody wants to be on it. But yeah, I have some controversial people on it, but these are people that get the job done. These are people that have tremendous influence. All babies on the board. So he (Putin) was invited. He's accepted. Many people have accepted. think, I don't know of anybody that hasn't accepted. But it's going to be great."
On the Board of Peace he further said, "I think the Board of Peace will be the most prestigious board ever. And it's going to get a lot of work done that the United Nations should have done. And we'll work with the United Nations. But the Board of Peace is going to be special. We're going to have peace. It started off with Gaza, the Middle East. We've got peace in the Middle East. Tremendous peace in the Middle East. Nobody thought that was possible. And that happened by taking out the Iran nuclear threat. Without that, it could have never happened. But the board is going to be, I think, really fantastic. And I think it will be the most prestigious board of any board ever."
The formation of the Gaza Board of Peace, as part of Phase 2 of the 20-Point Peace Plan to end the conflict in West Asia, aims to promote stability and oversee post-conflict reconstruction in the Gaza Strip.
The Board of Peace was proposed by Trump last September as part of his plan to end the war in Gaza, although the initiative now seems to be aimed at mediating global conflict more broadly.
According to a White House statement, the proposed Executive Board members will oversee portfolios critical to Gaza's stabilisation and long-term success. These include governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding, and capital mobilisation.
However, countries that commit USD 1 billion would secure permanent seats on the board, while those that do not pay could still join for a three-year term.US special envoy Steve Witkoff said in a interview to CNBC on Wednesday (local time) that up to 25 countries had accepted the invitation to join the board.
Among the countries that have accepted Trump's invitation are Israel, Kosovo, the United Arab Emirates, Hungary, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Armenia, Turkey, Pakistan, Qatar and Jordan.
- ANI
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