In his meeting with visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday, President Xi Jinping presented a four-point proposal to resolve the Palestine issue. Xi's proposal is China's latest effort to break the stalemate in the Middle East peace process.

Premier Li Keqiang also met Abbas on Monday afternoon, pledging China's support to the just cause of Palestinians.

Abbas, who arrived on Sunday for a three-day state visit, is the first political leader from the Middle East region and Arab world that Xi has received since he took office in March. Abbas arrived a day ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who arrived in Shanghai at the start of a five-day visit on Monday. The Israeli leader is scheduled to meet Xi and other Chinese officials in Beijing later this week.

Such rare overlapping diplomacy has naturally fueled speculation that China is playing a bigger role in the international mediation efforts aimed at restarting the stalled Middle East peace process.

Certainly with the leaders of the two sides sharing their ideas with Chinese leaders, it is a good opportunity for China to play a constructive role in facilitating mutual understanding and reducing enmity between the two sides.

Xi's four-point proposal in his meeting with Abbas indicates China values its relations with both Palestine and Israel and is taking concrete steps to help the two sides resolve their differences through peaceful negotiations.

Xi's recommendations have touched upon all the thorny issues standing between the Palestinians and Israelis. He supports Palestine's pursuit of independent statehood, while urging respect for Israel's right to subsistence and its reasonable security concerns. He endorses the principle of land for peace and calls for a sense of responsibility as well as impartiality when addressing the issue. Given that both sides need to create a better atmosphere for restarting the talks, Xi also called for an end to violence targeting innocent civilians and a halt to the construction of Jewish settlements.

China's latest proposal is in line with its long-term stance over the Palestine issue, which upholds justice and equity as well as the other basic principles governing international relations.

The reason that a lot of hot issues afflicting the world today still remain unresolved is because these principles are not fully observed.

As a country shouldering international responsibilities, China, along with others in the world arena, will not relent in its efforts to promote the Middle East peace process.

(China Daily 05/07/2013 page8)