UPDATE - China's Xi says ready to help Palestine in achieving internal reconciliation, peace talks

UPDATES WITH MORE COMMENTS ON BILATERAL MEETING; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – China’s President Xi Jinping on Wednesday said Beijing was ready to play its "positive role" in achieving internal reconciliation in Palestine and holding peace talks with Israel.

“The fundamental solution lies in the establishment of an independent state of Palestine that enjoys full sovereignty on the basis of the 1967 borders and with east Jerusalem as its capital,” Xi told visiting Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas during bilateral talks in the capital Beijing.

Abbas landed in the Chinese capital on Tuesday for a four-day state visit.

Xi, who welcomed Abbas at the Great Hall of the People, called for a “large-scale, more authoritative and more influential international peace conference … to create conditions for the resumption of peace talks and contribute tangible efforts to help Palestine and Israel live in peace.”

The Chinese president regretted the unresolved Palestinian question for over half a century has caused “great sufferings to the Palestinian people.”

"Justice must be done to Palestine as soon as possible,” said Xi, putting forward his three-point proposal.

The two also sides raised their bilateral relations to the level of "strategic partnership," according to Chinese state media.

Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in 1967.

While Israeli-Palestinian peace talks between have been stalled since 2014, Palestinians’ internal divisions, particularly between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, which is headed by Abbas, are also said to affect peacemaking.​​​​​​​

- Palestine’s economic and livelihood needs

Besides backing sovereign Palestine and an international conference to pave way for peace talks, the proposal says economic and livelihood needs of the Palestinians “should be met.”

"The international community needs to step up development assistance and humanitarian aid to Palestine,” Xi said.

He stressed that China and Palestine are “good friends and good partners who trust and support each other and that “China has all along firmly supported the Palestinian people’s just cause of restoring their legitimate national rights."

Abbas is the first Arab state leader to be hosted by Xi this year, as China and Palestine mark 35 years of their diplomatic relations.

Xi last met Abbas in Riyadh last December to attend the first-ever China-Gulf Council Cooperation summit, where he said the China-Palestine friendship is “deeply cherished by their people.”

At the UN Security Council last month, Beijing called on Israel to “immediately halt these actions and stop encroaching upon the land and resources of the Palestinian people.”

- 'Profound changes' in Middle East

On Tuesday, China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang hosted his Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Maliki, who accompanies Abbas during the trip.

Qin told al-Maliki the situation in the Middle East was “undergoing profound changes, and strengthening strategic autonomy and enhancing solidarity and cooperation are the common aspiration and the trend of the times.”

Re-affirming China’s support to Palestinians, Qin said: “China will continue to support the right direction of the peace talks and contribute Chinese wisdom and strength to the settlement of the Palestinian issue.”

The Palestinian leader’s visit comes after China recently hosted talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which led to the restoring of diplomatic relations between the two Middle East rivals.