A more balanced approach
During his talks with Abbas, Xi presented a four-point proposal for the settlement of the Palestinian question. The proposal reaffirms China's support for an independent Palestine based on the 1967 borders, encourages the two sides to create the necessary conditions for the resumption of peace talks and build on the existing achievements that include the principle of land for peace, and recommends the international community take an objective and fair position and make vigorous efforts to encourage peace talks. Xi's proposal demonstrates Beijing's willingness to play a more positive and constructive role in promoting Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.
China cannot magically remove all the obstacles in the way of peace talks, but by virtue of its good relations with both Palestine and Israel and its contacts with other important regional forces, such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran - which Washington refuses to work with - China can facilitate and inject new vitality into the peace process.
In addition, promoting the peace process through the economic integration of Palestine and Israel is a viable approach, and China can increase investment and economic cooperation with the two countries.
That China's new leadership is engaging with one of the world's most complex and intractable problems suggests they are willing to take on greater international obligations and are daring to make a difference by injecting new vitality into the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. With the Obama administration initiating a new round of strategic input over the past two months, China and the US should work together to ensure they are on the same track.
The year 2013 marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Oslo Accords. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict must not cost the dreams and lives of another generation.
The author is a senior fellow with the Chahar Institute and a researcher with the Institute of West Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
(China Daily 05/09/2013 page8)
