China said on September 12 it respects the choice made by the Palestinian people and hopes Palestine and Israel will speed up negotiations and try to reach an agreement on the final status of Palestine so that the legitimate national rights and interests of the Palestinian people can be restored at an early date.

When asked to comment on Palestine's decision on a delay in declaring statehood, Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said at a press conference that afternoon that "We have taken note of the fact that the Palestine Central Council has recently decided to postpone the statehood declaration."

He said that China has long supported the Palestinian people's national rights for self-determination, including the rights for statehood declaration.

(xinhua 09/12/2000)