BEIJING/GAZA CITY/CAIRO (Agencies) – China said on Thursday it supports a Palestinian plan to seek full membership in the United Nations next month, the Associated Press reported. JORDAN TIMES.

Negotiations with Israel on the terms of Palestinian statehood have been frozen since 2008.

As an alternative, the Palestinians have decided to seek UN recognition of an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, the areas Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.

China’s foreign ministry said in a statement Thursday that Wu Sike, its special envoy on the Middle East, told Palestinian leaders in a meeting in Ramallah that Beijing and the Chinese people have always supported the Palestinian cause.

On the Palestinians’ bid for statehood, the statement said Wu expressed understanding, respect and support, according to AP.

Meanwhile, Europe’s financial crisis is causing some European Union lawmakers to question whether the bloc can continue to deliver millions in aid to the Palestinians, an EU diplomat said Thursday.

The EU is the largest single donor to the Palestinians, contributing about 500 million euros ($720 million) a year to build institutions for a future state and pay salaries.