China Calls for More Aid to Palestinians

China Calls for More Aid to Palestinians

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The international community, especially the developed countries, should continue their efforts to provide more assistance to the Palestinian people, in order to restore the economy in the Palestinian self-ruled area at an early date, a senior Chinese official said Tuesday in Vienna.

"The international community should take its responsibilities and obligations to help the Palestinian National Rights Authorities overcome their economic difficulties and improve the people's living conditions," Zhang Yishan, Chinese ambassador to the United Nations in Vienna, said in a speech delivered at the opening session of the UN Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People.

"The most pressing task of the world community at present is to urge both sides to immediately stop violent clashes," Zhang added.

Participants at the two-day seminar, sponsored by the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, will review the state of the Palestinian economy and to examine efforts under way by governments, intergovernmental and civil society organizations at alleviating the current plight of the Palestinian people.

"Ever since the Madrid Middle East Peace Conference in 1991, peace talks between Palestine and Israel have achieved some progress thanks to the joint efforts by both sides and the impetus from the world community," Zhang said.

However, "the most serious violent clashes" between the two sides that broke out at the end of last September have "caused the Palestinian people heavy lives and property losses, making them suffer another setback in their struggles to rebuild their homeland," he said.

"We hold that providing assistance to the Palestinian people will help relieve their economic difficulties and promote peace talks," Zhang said.

Only by pushing forward the Middle East peace process, restoring the Palestinian people's legitimate national rights and completely resolving the Palestinian issue at an early date, can the peoples of various countries in this region enjoy tranquillity and prosperity, the Chinese official stressed.

In his address, Zhang also expressed China's consistent support for the Middle East peace process.

In a message read out at the opening of the seminar, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged "all concerned to exercise maximum restraint so as to prevent a further escalation, which could have very serious consequences for the entire region."