Xi arrives in Tarbes from Paris to continue state visit to France

Chinese President Xi Jinping left Beijing on Sunday morning for state visits to France, Serbia and Hungary at the invitation of President Emmanuel Macron of the Republic of France, President Aleksandar Vučić of the Republic of Serbia, and President Tamás Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary.

Xi's entourage includes his wife Peng Liyuan, Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, and Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and foreign minister.

US State Secretary Antony Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday, the first stop in a broader trip to the Middle East that aims to mediate between Israel and Hamas and stop the bloodshed in Gaza. The conflict has already brought huge domestic and external pressures to Washington, as pro-Palestine protests across major universities in Western countries are making Washington's policy of tolerating Israel's operations look increasingly unjustified and embarrassing.

Analysts said that the UN Security Council resolution for a ceasefire is being challenged, as Israel is still bombing Rafah, and if Blinken fails to make breakthrough, a brutal ground attack planned by Israel is very likely to happen and cause huge civilian casualties.

In Riyadh, Blinken is expected to meet senior Saudi leaders and also hold a wider meeting with counterparts from five Arab states - Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan - to discuss what governance of the Gaza Strip might look like after the Israel-Hamas war ends, according to a senior US State Department official, Reuters reported.

Blinken will also discuss with Saudi authorities efforts for a normalization accord between the kingdom and Israel, a deal that includes Washington giving Riyadh agreements on bilateral defense and security commitments as well as nuclear cooperation. In return for normalization, Arab states and Washington are pushing for Israel to agree to a pathway for Palestinian statehood, something Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected, Reuters reported.

Israel has regularly carried out airstrikes on Rafah since the start of the war and has threatened to send in ground troops, saying the city is "the last major Hamas stronghold" in the coastal enclave. Over a million Palestinians have sought refuge in the city on the Egyptian border. Members of the international community have urged Israel not to invade, fearing a humanitarian catastrophe, AP reported.

According to AP on Monday, Israeli airstrikes on the southern Gazan city of Rafah killed at least 22 people, including six women and five children, Palestinian health officials said. One of the children killed in the strikes overnight into Monday was just 5 days old.

Hundreds of bodies were found days ago buried deep in the ground at Nasser Hospital and Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said reports continued to emerge about the discovery of mass graves in Gaza, media reported. 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Monday that "We are deeply shocked and strongly condemn the perpetrators of the atrocity. Vast swaths of Gaza are now left in rubble and over a million civilians are struggling in despair on the brink of death."

While answering a question about what role China has played in "the meeting between Hamas and Fatah in Beijing this day" reported by foreign media, Lin Jian that "China and Palestine share a traditional friendship. We support Palestinian factions in achieving reconciliation and increasing solidarity through dialogue and consultation. We will continue to work actively towards that end."

Wang Jin, an associate professor at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies at Northwest University, told the Global Times on Monday that now the problem between Israel and Hamas is that they cannot reach agreement on an exchange of Israeli personnel detained by Hamas with an Israeli ceasefire, but if Blinken fails to make a breakthrough, the ground attack against Rafah is very likely.

Mei Hualong, an assistant professor at Peking University specializing in Middle East studies, told the Global Times on Monday that there is almost no mutual trust between Hamas and Israel, as Hamas believes that if they release all the detained Israeli personnel, Israel might break the ceasefire agreement and take military actions to try to eliminate Hamas in Rafah, despite the possibility of huge civilian casualties. 

The US agrees with Israel's objective that Hamas needs to be eradicated and cannot play a role in Gaza's future, Reuters reported, but Washington does not want Israel to re-occupy the Gaza Strip. Instead, it has been looking at a structure that will include a reformed Palestinian Authority with support from Arab states.

Chinese experts said this is why Hamas cannot trust the US as a mediator, and hopes for an effective mediation remain low, because the idea of "eradicating Hamas" and a "sustainable ceasefire" cannot coexist. The bloodshed in Gaza will continue as long as the US and Israel believe that they can eradicate

China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration announced on Saturday that the China Wildlife Conservation Association has signed a giant panda conservation cooperation agreement with the San Diego Zoo in the US and will select a pair of giant pandas to be relocated to the San Diego Zoo to initiate a 10-year international cooperation project for giant panda conservation.

The Chinese side has selected giant pandas "Yunchuan" (male) and "Xinbao" (female), from the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, and has arranged experienced keepers and veterinarians to accompany the two pandas to the US, according to a release from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.
The zoo is currently renovating and upgrading the giant panda facility to create a larger and more comfortable living environment for the pandas and has assembled a professional team with experience in giant panda care and management, daily care, and related research technologies, who have previously studied and exchanged experiences in China, to take care of the two pandas.

To ensure the health of the two giant pandas in the US, in March of this year, the China Wildlife Conservation Association organized experts to travel to the US and conduct in-depth discussions with the San Diego Zoo, providing technical guidance and exchanging experiences to clarify standards and requirements for giant panda care, living environments, and health care, said the release.

The San Diego Zoo is one of the top five zoos in the world. According to the agreement, both sides are actively advancing preparations related to the giant pandas' journey to the US.

China has condemned the US for its passing of a $95 billion aid package containing military assistance for the island of Taiwan, urging Washington to honor its commitment of not supporting "Taiwan independence" and to stop arming the island.

Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said at a press conference on Wednesday that the Taiwan question is purely an internal matter for China, and no outside interference will be tolerated.

The Taiwan-related content in the US congressional bill seriously violates the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, and sends a wrong signal to the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, Zhu said.

"We are firmly opposed to it. We urge the US side to honor its commitment of not supporting 'Taiwan independence' and to stop arming Taiwan in any way," Zhu stated.

The remarks came after the US Senate on Tuesday passed a package to provide billions in aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden's desk to be signed into law after six months of political battles over it, CNBC reported.

The final vote tally was 79-18, a rousing show of bipartisanship in an era of deep political divisions, according to the US media outlet.

The funding includes roughly $60 billion for Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel and $8 billion for Taiwan and Indo-Pacific security.

Chinese analysts said that in recent years, the US has been doing more than just providing weapons and equipment to the island.

The US has also been providing military training, intelligence sharing and technology, said Xin Qiang, a deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University.

Given that the US' assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and the Taiwan region has left the super power stretched thin, it is possible that in the next step, the US may assist Taiwan in producing its own weapons, Xin said.

That would definitely escalate tensions in the Taiwan Straits, analysts warned.

Xin predicted that the elected Taiwan regional leader Lai Ching-te is almost certain to continue the policy of the current regional leader Tsai Ing-wen by seeking secessionism with US support and adopting a strategy of using force to resist reunification.

The more intense the military security cooperation between the US and Taiwan island becomes, the more emboldened the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities will be, leading to more provocative pro-secessionist rhetoric and actions, further escalating tensions in cross-Straits relations, Xin warned.

Zhu said that most people in Taiwan want peace rather than war, development rather than decline, exchange rather than separation, and cooperation rather than confrontation. The DPP authorities in the island disregard public opinion, willingly acting as a pawn for external forces to use Taiwan to control the mainland, and are taking Taiwan toward a dangerous situation.

The DPP authorities have been warned that any attempts to "seek independence with arms" and "seek independence by relying on outsiders" are doomed to failure, according to the spokesperson.

She also expressed that she hopes that the majority of Taiwan compatriots fully understand the danger of the DPP authorities hooking up with external forces to seek "Taiwan independence," and called for joint work to promote peaceful development and integrated development of cross-Straits relations for compatriots on both sides.

Commenting on whether the Chinese mainland would launch countermeasures in response to the US bill, Xin said the mainland will definitely increase pressure on the US and the DPP authorities in various areas such as military, politics and the economy.