Int'l conference on two-state solution opens at UN

A high-level international conference for the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine and the implementation of the two-state solution, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, opened at the UN headquarters on Monday.

In remarks at the conference, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that "we are at a breaking point" and that the two-state solution is "farther than ever before."

French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot said that recognizing the state of Palestine is to bolster those Palestinians who chose non-violence.

"Palestine is not, and it will never be Hamas. Recognizing the state of Palestine today, is to bolster those Palestinians who chose non-violence, who decided to renounce terrorism and recognize Israel," said Barrot.

The conference can and must serve as a decisive turning point -- one that catalyzes irreversible progress towards ending the occupation, and realizing a shared aspiration for a viable two-state solution, Guterres said.

"My central question to those who stand in the way is this: What is the alternative? A one-state reality where Palestinians are denied equal rights, and forced to live under perpetual occupation and inequality? Or a one-state reality where Palestinians are expelled from their land? That is not peace. That is not justice. That is not in accordance with international law. And that is not acceptable," said Guterres.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said the conference is a message to the Palestinian people that "the world supports us in the realization of our rise to life, liberty, dignity in our land, and of our right to our sovereign state."

"In the Gaza Strip, there are all kinds of death. Palestinians die by being targeted, they die by being burned alive, they die out in the cold, out of hunger, out of thirst, out of disease, out of grief, and out of fear. And they send us every day, every moment for more than 20 months, a distress call to save them from this killing," said Mustafa.

In his speech, Mustafa said Hamas must end its rule in the Gaza Strip and hand over its weapons to Palestinian authorities. He added that Palestine stands ready to invite regional and international forces to be deployed as part of a stabilization and protection mission.

According to Barrot, representatives of over 120 countries attended the conference, and a common vision for Gaza after the war will be adopted.

Int'l conference on two-state solution opens at UN

China's expanding ties with the Global South have pushed trade growth far beyond the global average despite the tariff pressure from the U.S., according to experts.

"Whilst the Trump tariffs ultimately led to a significant drop-off in Chinese exports to the United States and vice versa, the trading relationships across much of the rest of the world continue to grow, and China's trading relationships across the Belt and Road Initiative countries, as well as with the Global South, more broadly speaking, has grown at rates far greater than global trade growth as a whole. And we see that evidenced by the latest data. When we break that down, we see that has been underpinned by the developments in high-technology products in particular, whether it's EVs, whether it's even in semiconductors, as well as photovoltaic panels, etc.," said Dr. Warwick Powell, an adjunct professor at the Queensland University of Technology, in a TV interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Thursday.

"And you've got to look at the places where the growth is taking place. Africa, I think, is a very interesting case in point, because the kinds of things that China has been exporting and expanding in terms of its exports are all about African economic development -- its machinery, its energy systems, its technology, and this really goes to delivering on China's broader strategic ambition as an emerging great power to be an enabling great power, supporting the development of its partners around the world," he added.

Qian Jun, executive dean of International School of Finance at Fudan University, attributed the trade growth to Chinese firms' endeavor to tap into key regions like ASEAN, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

"The main increase of export comes from, as we have discussed, these new areas: The ASEAN economy -- southeast Asia remains the most important trading partner -- and also Latin America, the Middle East, and these [other such] new regions. So, the exporters of the Chinese companies are also very good at adjusting their destinies, their strategies, how to market their goods and services, so that the reliance on the U.S., for example, has gone down a lot," Qian said.

China's trade momentum increasingly powered by Global South: experts