Palestinians Ask Jiang to Name Chinese Peace EnvoyPalestinian President Yasser Arafat asked visiting Chinese President Jiang Zemin on Saturday to appoint a permanent envoy to the Middle East peace process to help advance negotiations."Today we asked for a permanent Chinese presence, including naming a permanent envoy to the peace process," Palestinian Minister Nabil Shaath told reporters after the leaders met in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Speaking before Palestinian politicians and diplomats later in the day, Arafat said Palestinians "look up to the international community, including the friendly China, to play a role in advancing the peace process." While welcoming China's help, Arafat criticised Israel for lacking "a deeper commitment to the signed agreements". "The continuing policy of delaying and ignoring agreements is coupled with unprecedented settlement activity on Palestinian land carried out by the Israeli government," he said. Jiang, the first Chinese head of state to visit Israel and the Palestinian Authority, is on a mission to boost ties with the Jewish state, which have burgeoned with Israel's sale of tens of millions of dollars of military hardware to Beijing. The United States is opposed to an Israeli deal to sell China a Russian-made plane with an advanced airborne warning and control system (AWACS). Israel has said it will go ahead with the sale. CHINA PLEDGES TO HELP PROGRESS PEACE EFFORTS Jiang said his country would make a maximum effort to push forward the peace process on the basis of the relevant United Nations resolutions and the principle of land for peace. "Despite the big geographical distance that separates China and Palestine...China will do all it can to help advance the peace process and will do nothing to harm the peace process," Jiang said at a joint news conference with Arafat in Bethlehem. Speaking before a special session of the Palestinian Legislative Council later, Jiang pledged that the "Chinese people will always be a true friend of the Palestinian people". In 1963, a year before Arafat declared an armed struggle against Israel, he met Mao Zedong and received weapons. In 1988, China was among more than 100 countries who recognised Arafat's declaration in Algiers of an independent state. At the news conference, Arafat said he wanted Israel to abide by the U.N. resolutions calling for it to withdraw from the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza, territories it captured in the 1967 Middle East War. Palestinians want to create a state in the West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1967 in a move not recognised internationally, calling it the country's "united, eternal capital". "China has strong relations with Israel now and I believe it is in their interest and our interest that they play a role in advancing the peace process," Shaath said. Palestinian and Israeli negotiators concluded a second round of peace talks on Friday at the Bolling Air Force base near Washington. They exchanged proposals for reaching a framework accord in May ahead of a final deal in September that will tackle the thorniest issues, such as the fate of Jerusalem, borders, Jewish settlements and Palestinian refugees. |
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