* South Africa condemns decision to freeze aid over land to white farmers
China has criticised the threat by United States President Donald Trump to clear out the people of Gaza from their native land.
This is just as South Africa also condemned Trump’s decision to freeze aid to the country over a law he alleged allows land to be seized from white farmers.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, said at a news conference that Trump was overreaching himself as Gaza is not part of the United States.
The Chinese spokesman reminded Trump that Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people and is not a political bargaining chip
He said: “Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people. It is an inalienable part of the territory of Palestine, not a bargaining chip for political games”.
Speaking further Jiakun said Palestine should not become a prey of the strong, noting that the war has already left Gaza in devastation and suffering.
“The international community, major countries in particular, should join hands to make Gaza better, rather than worse, by providing humanitarian assistance and helping with its reconstruction.”
He stated the commitment of China to support the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people and believes that “the Palestinians governing Palestine” is an important principle that must be upheld in the post-conflict governance of Gaza and opposes the forced displacement of the people of Gaza.
China, he said, “stands ready to work with the rest of the world for the realisation of the two-state solution as the fundamental way forward, and for an early, just political settlement of the Palestinian question, namely, the establishment of an independent State of Palestine that enjoys full sovereignty based on the 1967 border and with east Jerusalem as its capital.”
In a related development, the South African government has condemned Trump’s decision to freeze aid to the country over a law he alleged allows land to be seized from white farmers.
“We are concerned by what seems to be a campaign of misinformation and propaganda aimed at misrepresenting our great nation,” it said.
“It is disappointing to observe that such narratives seem to have found favour among decision-makers in the United States of America.”
The law would “enable the government of South Africa to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation”, Trump alleged in an executive order, which also noted foreign policy clashes between the two countries over the war in Gaza.
South Africa said it “has taken note” of Trump’s executive order, but added: “It is of great concern that the foundational premise of this order lacks factual accuracy and fails to recognise South Africa’s profound and painful history of colonialism and apartheid.”
Land ownership is a contentious issue in South Africa, with most farmland still owned by white people three decades after the end of apartheid and the government under pressure to implement reforms.
