China on Tuesday called on Israel to fulfill its obligations under international humanitarian law and respond to the international community’s calls to ensure the rapid and safe entry of humanitarian supplies into Gaza.

During his remarks at the UN Security Council briefing on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Fu Cong, highlighted the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which has been exacerbated by extreme shortages of essential supplies and dire health conditions.

Fu noted, “millions of people are struggling with hunger, disease, pain, and despair,” describing the situation as a man-made humanitarian disaster and a serious violation of international law.

He pointed out that Gaza has been under a blockade for nine months, forcing over 2 million people to live in an “open-air prison” and depriving them of adequate access to water, electricity, food, medication and fuel.

Fu criticized the closure of the Rafah crossing due to Israeli military operations, which has resulted in thousands of trucks loaded with humanitarian supplies waiting in long lines.

“The existing crossing points are far from being able to meet the demand for humanitarian aid,” Fu said, emphasizing that land transport routes are key to expanding humanitarian access.

Fu also addressed the obstruction of humanitarian supplies and the challenges faced by humanitarian workers, who often encounter unreasonable difficulties and accusations.

He condemned the repeated attacks on facilities of humanitarian agencies and noted that over 200 humanitarian workers have died in the conflict, calling this “unprecedented in history and shocking.”

Reiterating that “hunger cannot be weaponized, humanitarian issues cannot be politicized,” Fu described the man-made exacerbation of the humanitarian disaster as”unacceptable.”

He urged Israel to ensure the “rapid and safe entry of humanitarian supplies at scale into Gaza,” and to cooperate fully with the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations.

The council’s adoption of Resolution 2720 aimed to expand humanitarian access, yet its implementation has fallen short.

Fu called for an examination of the reasons behind this and urged the concerned parties to work harder to remove obstacles to the large-scale entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Fu concluded by emphasizing that the fundamental way to alleviate the humanitarian disaster is through a lasting ceasefire and the early relaunch of the two-state solution.

He called on the international community to continue efforts toward this end and supported the council in taking further necessary action.

Source(s): CGTN

A resolution proposed by China and co-sponsored by over 140 countries including the U.S. was passed unanimously at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly on Monday.

The resolution calls for “human-centered” development of AI and that it should benefit all nations.

The resolution puts a particular emphasis on equality, stresses that international cooperation should help developing countries build their AI capacity. Meanwhile, their voice should also be included more in global AI governance in an “open, fair, and non-discriminatory business environment.”

China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Fu Cong, pointed out that many developing countries have not been able to access or benefit from the use of AI as the global digital divide continues to widen.

“The goal is to help all countries, especially developing ones, equally benefit from AI development, bridge the digital divide, improve global AI governance, and accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” said Fu.

The adoption of the resolution was warmly welcomed and highly appreciated by many developing countries, according to the Chinese permanent mission to the UN.

They unanimously agreed that the resolution’s focus on AI capacity building and its series of practical measures are of milestone importance in bridging the global digital divide and promoting the shared benefits of AI development among countries, according to the mission.

“Past global discussions may have focused on the issues of AI safety, ethics and governance. However, for many low- and middle-income countries, they lack even the most basic AI infrastructure, let alone the capability for AI innovation and application,” said Zeng Yi, a member of the United Nations AI Advisory Body and professor at the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“The original purpose of AI technology was to empower sustainable development and bridge the digital divide. However, this divide has now widened, making governance issues critically important. Capacity building is a crucial core element aimed at helping these low- and middle-income countries bridge this digital divide and ensuring that the benefits of AI reach them,” Zeng said.

Meanwhile, AI technology is already showing its potential in developing countries. A survey of 11,900 people in the Asia-Pacific region conducted by Deloitte in May found that generative AI is already transforming how people work. According to the company, the AI revolution is unsurprisingly led by the younger generation who grew up being surrounded by smart devices, voice assistants and recommendation algorithms.

“They’ve experienced AI in various aspects of their lives, from entertainment and education to health care and daily interactions since early childhood. As such, they’re characterized by their digital fluency and ability to navigate and use AI technologies,” said the company in a report.

Developing economies in the region are at the forefront of adopting generative AI, with adoption rates roughly 30% higher than those in developed economies. Notably, daily usage is significantly higher in India (32%) and Southeast Asian countries (19%), compared to Australia (8%) and Japan (4%).

Deloitte attributes this adoption gap partly to the larger proportion of “digitally native” individuals in developing economies. In India, 46% of those surveyed were aged between 18 and 35, whereas only 30% of respondents in Japan fell within this age group.

Source(s): CGTN

Explosions, air strikes and gunfire rattled northern Gaza on Saturday, the third day of an Israeli military operation that has uprooted tens of thousands of Palestinians and compounded what the United Nations (UN) called “unbearable” living conditions in the territory.

The armed wings of both Hamas and the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad said they were engaged in ongoing fighting with Israeli forces there.

Israel’s military, meanwhile, said its operations were continuing in Shujaiya where fighting “above and below the ground” left a “large number” of militants dead. A resurgence of fighting in the area comes months after Israel declared the command structure of Hamas fighters dismantled in northern Gaza.

The Israel-Hamas conflict has also led to soaring tensions on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, leading Iran on Saturday to warn of an “obliterating” war if Israel attacked Lebanon.

Further south, in the Rafah area, witnesses reported dead and wounded people after a new Israeli incursion.

Tarek Qandeel, director of the medical center in Al-Maghazi, central Gaza, said it was seriously damaged when a neighboring house was bombed, making it the latest Gaza medical facility affected by the conflict.

The United Nations, in a report on Friday citing Gaza’s Health Ministry, said “about 70 per cent of health infrastructure has been destroyed.”

Separately, a UN spokeswoman, Louise Wateridge, said by video link she had just returned to central Gaza after four weeks outside the territory.

“It’s really unbearable,” she said, describing a “significantly deteriorated” situation.

“There’s no water there, there’s no sanitation, there’s no food,” and people are returning to live in “empty shells” of buildings.

Meanwhile, Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official, said on Saturday there has been no progress in ceasefire talks with Israel over the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The Palestinian group is still ready to “deal positively” with any ceasefire proposal that ends the deadly fighting, Hamdan told a news conference in Beirut. Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh on Saturday discussed with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel the course of ongoing negotiations to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

The call came after Israel’s Hebrew public radio Kan reported that the U.S. administration presented a revised version of a prisoner exchange deal that includes a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The new offer is based on the proposal approved by the then-Israeli war cabinet and presented by U.S. President Joe Biden last month, the radio said.

Arab mediators’ efforts, backed by the U.S., have so far failed to conclude a ceasefire with both sides blaming each other for the impasse.

Source(s): Xinhua