French President Emmanuel Macron has failed to reach an agreement with Britain leader on the timing for recognizing a Palestinian state during his three-day state visit to the United Kingdom, which started on Tuesday.
While addressing the British parliament during his first day of state visit, Macron reaffirmed his support for a two-state solution, saying the only way out of the Palestine-Israel conflict is recognizing the State of Palestine through diplomatic channels.
The British side also voiced support for a two-state solution, but emphasized any recognition must form part of a broader peace process.
As Macron was delivering the speech, pro-Palestinian demonstrators rallied outside the Palace of Westminster, calling for an early ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
"I don't, to be honest, have a lot of hopes from either Macron representing the EU or the British. I feel that they've always supported Israel. There might be some differences in perceptions or the theater of what they present, but I think fundamentally, there's not going to be a lot of change. I don't have a lot of hopes from the Western regimes. Full stop. The crux for me was that in June, they were supposed to hold hands together and recognize Palestine. And Israel says no, and they give way," said Sarah Teac, an activist for rights of Palestinian self-determination.
Macron's state visit to Britain is the first such visit by a French president since 2008. He is also the first European leader to make a state visit to Britain since Brexit in 2016.
France, UK fail to agree on timing for Palestinian state recognition
The series of erroneous words and actions by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi not only seriously deviate from the spirit of pacifist Constitution of the country but also further exacerbate regional tensions, said Tomoko Tamura, a member of the House of Representatives.
In an exclusive interview with China Central Television (CCTV), Tamura criticized Takaichi for straining Japan-China relations by making erroneous remarks on Taiwan, calling on her to improve bilateral relations.
Tamura pointed out that the political consensus reached during the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries remains of great significance, and Japan should respect and abide by it as the basis for repairing and rebuilding friendly relations with China.
"The erroneous remarks by Sanae Takaichi this time have led to the deterioration of China-Japan relations. This is absolutely unacceptable and must be retracted. Regarding the relations between two sides, the consensus reached during the normalization of diplomatic relations in 1972 is of utmost importance. At that time, the Chinese government asserted that Taiwan is part of China and the Japanese government fully understood and respected this stance. Now we should reaffirm this consensus, as well as the crucial agreements reached by both countries after 1972. Japan should explicitly acknowledge these significant agreements to rebuild friendly relations with China," she said.
Tamura also pointed out that in recent years, Japan has attempted to reshape its security policy, boosting defense spending, easing arms-export restrictions, pursuing offensive weapons development, and clearly deviating from the fundamental principle of "exclusively defense-oriented" policy.
"Japan's possession of long-range missiles clearly exceeded the scope of 'exclusively defense-oriented' policies. Japan is accelerating its military expansion. From the perspective of the Japanese constitution, this is absolutely not allowed. We are deeply concerned about the current Takaichi administration's disregard for the Japanese constitution. We clearly demand that Japan should adhere to the position of resolving issues through diplomatic efforts," she said.
Japanese official criticizes Takaichi's erroneous remarks
