The two-state solution is the only path to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, former Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab said in an interview with China Media Group (CMG) in Guangzhou, southern China’s Guangdong Province.
The two-state solution refers to a proposed framework for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, aiming to establish two independent states -- Israel and Palestine -- coexisting in peace and security.
"I believe the core of the conflict is the fact that we have people -- the Palestinians -- that have suffered for almost eight decades, and that are probably the only people in the world today that are under siege, being attacked, being killed. I don't see any other solution other than giving them their own state with 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as their capital, which was what was presented in the Arab Summit 22 years ago in 2002. And the 22 Arab countries were ready to sign a peace treaty based on that condition that the Palestinians will have their own state, their own dignity, their own homeland. And this has not happened since," Diab said in the interview aired on Friday.
Resolving the Palestinian question and achieving lasting peace in the Middle East requires the concerted efforts of the entire international community, including major powers like China, Diab noted.
"It's about global balance of power. So, China, being a major player at the global level, can contribute towards a peace resolution, and they have done that before. But everybody needs an end to this conflict, and the only way to end this conflict is to create a Palestinian state for Palestinians. The two-state solution -- I think, it's only fair -- to have Palestinians have their own state and determine their own future without dictation by anybody," he said.
The former Lebanese leader highlighted China's long-standing ties with Lebanon and the Middle East, emphasizing its proactive and fair role in regional affairs. He noted China's historical connections with the region and its potential contribution to achieving a political resolution, including the widely discussed two-state solution.
"China has always been a friend to Lebanon and a friend to the Middle East. There are Lebanese-Chinese ties from a long time ago at the trade level and so on. And yes, China is playing a proactive role even at the political level. China, as a fair player, would, in my mind, be conducive to reaching the political solution and the two-state solution that everybody talks about," Diab said.
Two-state solution only way to resolve Palestine-Israel conflict: former Lebanese PM
Beijing has recently unveiled a three-year action plan to promote the high-quality development of embodied artificial intelligence (AI), fostering it as a new driver of the city's economic growth.
Embodied AI integrates AI into physical bodies such as robots to enable them to perceive, learn and dynamically interact with the environment like humans. Relying on computation and logical reasoning, it can continuously learn, adapt and complete tasks by perception, action and environmental feedback, thus improving autonomy and practical application in real world.
Issued on Feb. 28, the action plan will support embodied AI through four dimensions, namely, technological innovation, platform support, scenario-driven applications, and ecosystem optimization.
According to the action plan, Beijing will strive to make key technological breakthrough in developing large models and chips empowering embodied AI to improve the capability of embodied AI robots in handling complicated tasks. The action plan also said that a universal embodied AI data collection platform will be built to support multiple scenarios, enabling the collection of larger-scale data at a lower cost. This platform aims to address the challenges faced by companies involved in embodied AI.
"In order to make key breakthrough in data collection, this year the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission and Zhongguancun Administrative Committee will rely on new research and development institutions to build a data collection platform for embodied AI, to create a training ground that integrates virtual and real-world embodied intelligence data collection. We will set up a shared mechanism for joint operation and open access of data. By the end of the year, we expect to build and open up 3 million high-quality universal embodied AI datasets," said Han Jian, an official with the Administrative Commission of Zhongguancun Science Park, and Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission.
In addition, Beijing will fully leverage the role of embodied AI across multiple scenarios, including scientific research, education, business, manufacturing, and personalized applications. The plan also explores its use in home services and elderly care. The city will strive to cultivate a 100-billion yuan (around 14 billion U.S. dollars) embodied AI industrial cluster.
"We hope that by 2027, Beijing can establish an embodied AI industry ecosystem with international influence. We hope hundreds of key technological achievements across upstream and downstream industrial chains can be made for embodied AI, including large models, intelligent chips, and full-body control systems. The goal is to basically achieve independent production of embodied AI products. We aim for no less than 100 large-scale applications of embodied AI in these major fields: scientific research and education, industry and business, as well as personalized services," said Han.
"We aim to nurture at least 50 core embodied AI companies and establish more than two dedicated industrial parks for embodied AI, truly supporting embodied AI to become another driver of Beijing's economic growth," he said.
Beijing launches three-year action plan to promote development of embodied AI
