english.daralhayat.com 2008/12/04 17:02 GMT

China, The United Nations And Palestine

Helena Cobban Al-Hayat 2004/01/5

China is the home of one in every five of the people alive in the world today. What role will this massive, rapidly industrializing country play in the conduct of world affairs in the century ahead?

This was the big question on my mind when I set out for my first visit ever to this country. I was coming in order to take part in one of the UN's regular "Meetings on the Question of Palestine." I was interested to see how the Palestinian-Israeli issue would look from this far eastern end of the Asian landmass-but also, to see how world affairs in general would look from the viewpoint of the world's biggest potential challenger to the arbitrariness of U.S. power.

The highest-ranking Chinese speaker at the conference was Deputy Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo. But the most interesting of the half dozen or so Chinese speakers was Wang Shijie, who is China's "Special Envoy for the Middle East Peace Process." It was Mr. Wang, for example, who spelled out that China "supports an even larger role for the United Nations in the area of promoting the Middle East peace process and finally resolving the question of the Middle East." Many of the other speakers, by contrast, merely expressed support for the (very limited) role that the "Road-map" has given to the UN, without expressing the need for the UN to play any larger role.

Mr. Wang also referred directly to experiences he had had during what he described as "numerous visits to the Palestinian autonomous territories." He said he had been deeply moved by what he saw there: "the smashed walls and barren fields, the grieving mothers and weeping children… In this conflict the Palestinian people have suffered enormous material losses and spiritual damage, and are helpless to control their fate. Nor have the Israeli people escaped becoming victims of this conflict…"

Wang, like all the Chinese speakers at the conference, laid great stress on the need to resolve all differences among peoples peacefully, through negotiations. (Perhaps China's own success in having negotiated the still-continuing process of the return of Hong Kong and Macao from foreign to Chinese rule has made this path seem like a wise one to them, in general.)

I was interested to see the degree to which the Chinese officials and citizens I met while here seemed to be very comfortable to associate themselves with China's lengthy period of pre-Communist history. (Even in the name they use for the country on many documents these days, the prefix "People's Republic of" seems most frequently to be left off. Nowadays, the mainland Chinese seem to be saying, they are, quite simple, "China".)

In Mr. Wang's presentation, he stressed that "Traditional Chinese culture esteems harmonious relations between people, and opposes war and violence. As early as the pre-Han period more than two thousand years ago, the philosopher Confucius formulated his philosophy of the nobility of peace. In modern international relations, we advocate peaceful coexistence among nations and peoples, and mutual exchange among cultures."

In a forum held the morning after the end of the formal conference, a number of Chinese scholars expressed views that differed only a little from those expressed by the officials who had preceded them. One professor at Beijing University made a point of mentioning Israel's nuclear arsenal, and said "Israel must give up its nuclear ambitions." While this professor lauded the Road-map as "giving us new hope", a colleague from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said clearly, "We are not optimistic because we don't see any light at the end of the tunnel, or how we can end the situation in the occupied territories soon."

This academician, Dr. Zhao Guozhong of the Academy's Department of West Asian and North African Studies, said, "We condemn attacks against Israeli civilians but we don't regard the extremists who do them as terrorists because they are acting from frustration at the situation." He urged that the Israeli army should withdraw unconditionally from all the occupied territories, and that all the settlements should be demolished. In addition, he said, "Israel should lift the siege from Yasser Arafat because he was elected by the Palestinian people and is well regarded by the international community."

… I did wonder, towards the end of the conference, how much contribution the lengthy series of "Conferences on the Question of Palestine" that the UN has held around the world over recent decades has actually made to correcting the still-worsening situation in the occupied territories (and the continuing exile and dispossession of the Palestinian refugees, which got sadly little notice at the conference.) But one contribution the conferences have made, I think, has been to strengthen the links among all those of us from around the world who are continuing to work for a fair and sustainable resolution of the Palestinian conflict.

Certainly, from my own perspective, living and working as I do mainly inside the United States, it is often easy to feel almost overwhelmed at the huge weight of pro-Israeli opinion (whether pro-Likud or pro-Labor) inside the U.S. So it is useful to go outside the country and get back in touch with officials, specialists, and ordinary people from other countries-especially those that, like China, have a weighty role inside the United Nations.

At this conference, in addition to numerous officials from China, Mr. Oleg Ozerov, the Head of the Middle East Peace Process Division in Russia's Foreign Ministry, and Mr. Francis Okelo, who is Terje Larsen's Deputy in the office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process, both took part. I did not expect any official from President Bush's strongly anti-UN administration to take part. But it was a pity that the EU also chose not to send any official representative to participate.

From China, one gets a particular and significant view of the role of the U.S. in today's world affairs. It is interesting to watch the Chinese as they are almost visibly preparing themselves to assume an increasingly strong role in global leadership. But I'll write more about this in a later column.

<h1>China, The United Nations And Palestine</h1><h4>Helena Cobban     Al-Hayat     2004/01/5</h4>China is the home of one in every five of the people alive in the world today. What role will this massive, rapidly industrializing country play in the conduct of world affairs in the century ahead?  This was the big question on my mind when I set out for my first visit ever to this country.  I was coming in order to take part in one of the UN's regular "Meetings on the Question of Palestine."  I was interested to see how the Palestinian-Israeli issue would look from this far eastern end of the Asian landmass-but also, to see how world affairs in general would look from the viewpoint of the world's biggest potential challenger to the arbitrariness of U.S. power.The highest-ranking Chinese speaker at the conference was Deputy Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo.  But the most interesting of the half dozen or so Chinese speakers was Wang Shijie, who is China's "Special Envoy for the Middle East Peace Process."  It was Mr. Wang, for example, who spelled out that China "supports an even larger role for the United Nations in the area of promoting the Middle East peace process and finally resolving the question of the Middle East."  Many of the other speakers, by contrast, merely expressed support for the (very limited) role that the "Road-map" has given to the UN, without expressing the need for the UN to play any larger role.Mr. Wang also referred directly to experiences he had had during what he described as "numerous visits to the Palestinian autonomous territories."  He said he had been deeply moved by what he saw there: "the smashed walls and barren fields, the grieving mothers and weeping children… In this conflict the Palestinian people have suffered enormous material losses and spiritual damage, and are helpless to control their fate.  Nor have the Israeli people escaped becoming victims of this conflict…"Wang, like all the Chinese speakers at the conference, laid great stress on the need to resolve all differences among peoples peacefully, through negotiations.  (Perhaps China's own success in having negotiated the still-continuing process of the return of Hong Kong and Macao from foreign to Chinese rule has made this path seem like a wise one to them, in general.)I was interested to see the degree to which the Chinese officials and citizens I met while here seemed to be very comfortable to associate themselves with China's lengthy period of pre-Communist history.  (Even in the name they use for the country on many documents these days, the prefix "People's Republic of" seems most frequently to be left off.  Nowadays, the mainland Chinese seem to be saying, they are, quite simple, "China".)In Mr. Wang's presentation, he stressed that "Traditional Chinese culture esteems harmonious relations between people, and opposes war and violence.  As early as the pre-Han period more than two thousand years ago, the philosopher Confucius formulated his philosophy of the nobility of peace.  In modern international relations, we advocate peaceful coexistence among nations and peoples, and mutual exchange among cultures."In a forum held the morning after the end of the formal conference, a number of Chinese scholars expressed views that differed only a little from those expressed by the officials who had preceded them.  One professor at Beijing University made a point of mentioning Israel's nuclear arsenal, and said "Israel must give up its nuclear ambitions."  While this professor lauded the Road-map as "giving us new hope", a colleague from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said clearly, "We are not optimistic because we don't see any light at the end of the tunnel, or how we can end the situation in the occupied territories soon."This academician, Dr. Zhao Guozhong of the Academy's Department of West Asian and North African Studies, said, "We condemn attacks against Israeli civilians but we don't regard the extremists who do them as terrorists because they are acting from frustration at the situation."  He urged that the Israeli army should withdraw unconditionally from all the occupied territories, and that all the settlements should be demolished.  In addition, he said, "Israel should lift the siege from Yasser Arafat because he was elected by the Palestinian people and is well regarded by the international community."… I did wonder, towards the end of the conference, how much contribution the lengthy series of "Conferences on the Question of Palestine" that the UN has held around the world over recent decades has actually made to correcting the still-worsening situation in the occupied territories (and the continuing exile and dispossession of the Palestinian refugees, which got sadly little notice at the conference.)  But one contribution the conferences have made, I think, has been to strengthen the links among all those of us from around the world who are continuing to work for a fair and sustainable resolution of the Palestinian conflict.Certainly, from my own perspective, living and working as I do mainly inside the United States, it is often easy to feel almost overwhelmed at the huge weight of pro-Israeli opinion (whether pro-Likud or pro-Labor) inside the U.S.  So it is useful to go outside the country and get back in touch with officials, specialists, and ordinary people from other countries-especially those that, like China, have a weighty role inside the United Nations.At this conference, in addition to numerous officials from China, Mr. Oleg Ozerov, the Head of the Middle East Peace Process Division in Russia's Foreign Ministry, and Mr. Francis Okelo, who is Terje Larsen's Deputy in the office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process, both took part.  I did not expect any official from President Bush's strongly anti-UN administration to take part.  But it was a pity that the EU also chose not to send any official representative to participate.From China, one gets a particular and significant view of the role of the U.S. in today's world affairs.  It is interesting to watch the Chinese as they are almost visibly preparing themselves to assume an increasingly strong role in global leadership.  But I'll write more about this in a later column.