29 Mar 2024
Wednesday 31 May 2017 - 10:01
Story Code : 263142

Not for all the tea in China: Beijing wants active role in Mideast peace

Sputnik - China on Monday signaled a willingness to broker peace between Israel and Palestine, according to local sources.





Citing comments byChinese special envoy tothe Middle East Gong Xiaosheng, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported onTuesday that Beijing now seeks toenter the historically fraught relations betweenPalestine and Israel.

While meeting withPalestinian President Mahmoud Abbas inRamallah onMonday, Gong reiterated Beijing's support fora Palestinian state while learning aboutAbbas's April visit toWashington, a Russian trip inearly May and the Palestinian leader's meeting withUS President Donald Trump inBethlehem last week, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Following Trump's first trip outsidethe US aspresident, the White House has signaled that it also seeks tobroker a peace deal betweenthe historically opposed states.

China, according toWafa, seeks towiden its role inthe region, and is particularly interested instriking a peace deal betweenIsrael and Palestine, aswell asseeing an end tothe ongoing Syrian civil war and its attendant refugee crisis.

Parallel todiplomatic matters, the China envoy also indicated Beijing's eagerness toenhance economic ties withRamallah. According toWafa, Abbas thanked Gong and noted his country's "special" relations withthe world's most populated country.
China, witha consistent butoccasionally fractious relationship withIsrael, has traditionally maintained positive economic and cultural relations withneighboring Iran and has long recognized the sovereignty ofthe Palestinian state.


In a move widely seen asan attempt atmending fences, right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited China forthree days inMarch and took pains tonote the 25 years ofbilateral relations betweenthe two countries.

Prior toNetanyahu's Beijing junket, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated, "The issue ofPalestine is an open wound inthe Middle East. Peace may be delayed, butjustice cannot be denied."

"China firmly supports the two-state solution," Wang added, "and will continue todo what we can tohelp restart the peace talks."

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