Palestinian delegation heads for Beijing for UN peace meeting

A Palestinian delegation headed for China Sunday to participate in the UN International Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace in Beijing. The delegation is headed by Bassam Al-Salhi, the leader of the People's Party, and comprises the Palestinian envoy to the UN, Riad Mansour, and officials from President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Before setting off, Al-Salhi told Xinhua that this year's meeting, which was requested by the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, "was of a very important status since it's held in Beijing, where the Palestinians and Arabs expect a more active Chinese and international involvement in the peace process." Last month, China announced its vision for restarting the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians when it separately received leaders of the two sides. China's vision was based on the two-state solution that calls for the creation of a Palestinian state living in peace with Israel with East Jerusalem being its capital. Al-Salhi said that the Chinese involvement in the efforts to revive the peace process was expected "to end the exclusive U.S. sponsorship" of the negotiations.