After fatal strikes by Hamas, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urged China to stand behind Israel, saying he was “disappointed” that Beijing had shown “no sympathy” for the nation over the weekend.

The worst invasion into Israeli territory since Egypt and Syria’s strikes during the Yom Kippur War fifty years ago, Hamas fighters invaded Israeli communities on Saturday, killing 700 Israelis and kidnapping hundreds more.

In response, China’s foreign ministry called on the “relevant parties” to maintain peace and promptly stop hostilities to safeguard civilians, adding that “the fundamental way out of the conflict lies in implementing the two-state solution and establishing an independent State of Palestine.” Bipartisan members of Congress are traveling to Asia under Schumer’s direction, and they will make visits in South Korea and Japan. The group expects to see Chinese President Xi Jinping in China and works to boost the economic and national security interests of the United States.

“The recent tragic incidents that have been taking place in Israel are ongoing. At a meeting in Beijing with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, Schumer urged Wang Yi and the Chinese people to support the Israeli people and denounce these cruel and terrible acts.

“I was very disappointed, to be honest, by the Foreign Ministry statement that showed no sympathy or support for Israel during these troubled times,” he said. China, according to Wang, anticipated that this visit would enable Washington to have a clearer understanding of China and a more objective perspective of the country, while also managing existing contradictions more amicably.

After passing a broad bill last year to increase competition with China in semiconductors and other technologies, Schumer and Democratic committee leaders announced in May that they would draft legislation to restrict the flow of technology to China, discourage it from starting a conflict with Taiwan, and tighten regulations to prevent American capital from going to Chinese companies.

On Monday, Schumer reaffirmed that the major goal of the visit was to promote economic reciprocity and the establishment of an even playing field for American companies operating in China, assuring that Washington was not looking to engage in hostilities with Beijing.

“China must also ensure that American businesses and employees have a level playing field. Most Americans, including those in our delegation, disagree that we now have such fairness, according to Schumer.

The six senators, who will be joined by Republican Mike Crapo as co-leader, will meet with representatives of American businesses doing business in the region as well as government and business executives in the three nations they will be visiting.

Republican Bill Cassidy and Democratic Senators Jon Ossoff and Maggie Hassan are among the other senators traveling. After arriving in Shanghai on Saturday, the delegation spent the weekend doing talks with the business sector.

The journey follows the arrival of a number of senior Biden administration officials, including Gina Raimondo, the secretary of commerce, in August.

Since relations have been tense for years over problems including Taiwan, the origins of COVID-19, and claims of Chinese espionage, communication between U.S. and Chinese officials has intensified in recent months, leading to some improvement.

Schumer’s remarks are reminiscent of those made by Raimondo in August, when she said that American businesses had complained to her that China had become “uninvestable,” citing fines, raids, and other events that made doing business there unsafe.