June 13 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmud Abbas, has arrived in China on Tuesday for a three-day official visit in which he will meet with the president of the Asian giant, Xi Jinping, to address the situation of bilateral relations and the situation in the region.
According to information collected by the Palestinian news agency WAFA, Abbas will also meet other senior Chinese officials as part of his trip, in which he is accompanied by the Palestinian Foreign Minister, Riyadh al-Maliki, and the Deputy Prime Minister, Ziyad abu Amr, among others.
The visit was announced last week by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, who specified that it would take place between June 13 and 16 following an invitation made to Abbas by Xi himself.
Subsequently, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin described Abbas as “a good old friend of the Chinese people.” “He will be the first Arab head of state to be received in China this year, which says a lot about the high level of friendly relations between China and Palestine,” he explained.
Thus, Wang stressed that “China and Palestine enjoy a traditional friendship” and recalled that Beijing was “one of the first countries to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the State of Palestine,” according to the transcript of his statements published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Over the past few years, thanks to the personal guidance of Xi and Abbas, Sino-Palestinian relations have maintained good growth momentum with stronger political mutual trust and deeper friendship between the two peoples,” he said, before noting that Beijing was willing to take these relations “to a new level”.
On the other hand, he asserted that “the Palestinian question is at the center of the problems of the Middle East and affects the peace and stability of the region and equality and justice at the world level”, while reiterating his support for the “just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights”.
“China has on more than one occasion put forward proposals to resolve the Palestinian issue, stressing the need to move resolutely towards a political settlement based on the two-state solution and the intensification of international efforts towards peace,” he argued.
Finally, Wang stressed that “as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, China will continue to work with the international community to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue as soon as possible.”
The Chinese government announced in mid-April its willingness to mediate in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, as it communicated during two separate telephone conversations with its Israeli and Palestinian counterparts, Eli Cohen and Al Maliki, respectively.
The Chinese Foreign Minister, Qin Gang, indicated that “the key to solving the Palestinian-Israeli problem lies in upholding the concept of common security” and stressed that Beijing “has no interests of its own in this matter and only hopes that Israel and Palestine can coexist peacefully and maintain peace and stability in the region”.
China has increased its role on the regional scene and played a key role in the agreement signed in March between Iran and Saudi Arabia –the two main powers in the area– to restore their relations, broken in 2016. The agreement has allowed a reduction of tensions in the Middle East and acceleration of contacts in search of a peace agreement in Yemen.
