Emily Fang
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Over 10,000 Chinese citizens were brought out of Gulf countries like Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, according to a Chinese ministry spokesperson.
And more than 3,000 Chinese citizens had to be evacuated out of Iran, mostly overland through Azerbaijan.
With scores of flights canceled in the region, Beijing had to work with Chinese airlines to boost special evacuation flights out of the Gulf, where China has pursued close economic and security ties with Gulf countries.
Wang Yi, China's foreign minister, said earlier this week that the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran should not have happened, and he warned against what he called the, quote, law of the jungle coming back.
Across Taiwan and China, people celebrated Yuan Xiao Jie, or the Lantern Festival, the 15th day of the Lunar New Year and a time for family and friends to gather.
In Taiwan's Pingxi District, people gathered as tradition and let go large paper wish lanterns on which they'd written, with ink calligraphy, their wishes for the year of the fire horse.
And in China, people held parades and dance performances to celebrate the full moon.
And people ate tang yuan, sweet glutinous rice balls often filled with sesame paste because their shape resembles the full moon, and they're eaten for good luck on Lantern Festival and the winter solstice.
China's state broadcaster shared video of about a dozen of its citizens being ferried from northern Iran.
to Azerbaijan, where they were met by Chinese diplomats.
Beijing has condemned the joint strikes in Tehran, which killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials.
As a sign of their close ties, Iran is one of the few countries Chinese nationals can travel to visa-free.
China is the buyer of most of Iran's oil.
And in 1989, then Iranian President Ali Khamenei toured China, his last international trip before becoming Supreme Leader of Iran.
China's state broadcaster shared video of about a dozen of its citizens being ferried from northern Iran.
to Azerbaijan, where they were met by Chinese diplomats.
Beijing has condemned the joint strikes in Tehran, which killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials.