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2 articals from https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3224187/what-would-china-do-solve-israeli-palestinian-conflict-and-how-do-its-ties-two-sides-compare?module=perpetual_scroll_0&pgtype=article&campaign=3224187

Explainer | What would China do to solve Israeli-Palestinian conflict
and how do its ties with the two sides compare?

Beijing seen as long-time supporter of Palestinians, but its trade with
Israel has expanded rapidly over past two decades

Fresh off brokering Iran-Saudi Arabia deal, China says it is ready to facilitate peace talks, but some wonder whether it can play neutral
moderator

Connor Mycroft
Connor Mycroft
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Published: 5:00pm, 15 Jun, 2023
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China’s Xi meets Mahmoud Abbas, offers 3-point plan to resolve
Palestinian issue

14 Jun 2023

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas at a
signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on
Wednesday. Photo: AFP
China Macro Economy


Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas (left) shakes hands with
Chinese President Xi Jinping after a ceremony in Beijing on Wednesday.
Photo: AFP
Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas (left) shakes hands with
Chinese President Xi Jinping after a ceremony in Beijing on Wednesday.
Photo: AFP
Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday kicked off a
four-day visit to Beijing, where he and Chinese President Xi Jinping
jointly announced they would establish a “strategic partnership” between Palestine and China.
The visit is being closely watched, as earlier this year Foreign
Minister Qin Gang said China was ready to facilitate peace talks to
settle the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
While China has engaged in peace negotiations in the past, Qin’s remarks
came as Beijing signalled its growing influence in the Middle East
following its successful mediation between regional rivals Saudi Arabia
and Iran earlier this year.
China has long called solving the conflict the “heart of the Middle East issue”. But some see the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a far more complicated task to resolve, and doubts have been raised about whether
China is appropriate for the role of “neutral” moderator.
So how do Beijing’s relationships with the two sides compare? How has it proposed to resolve the decades-long conflict, and what could
foreseeably hamper those efforts?
What is China’s relationship with the Palestinians?
Beijing has been a vocal supporter of the Palestinians since as far back
as the founding of the People’s Republic of China – before either had
any form of recognition by the United Nations.
China was one of the first countries to recognise Palestine as a
sovereign state in 1988, and Abbas’ predecessor, Yasser Arafat, visited
the country on 14 state visits between 1964 and his death in 2004.
Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin described the 87-year-old Abbas,
who is marking his fifth official visit to Beijing since he became
president of the Palestinian Authority in 2005, as an “old and good
friend of the Chinese people” at a press conference last week.
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During their meeting on Wednesday, Xi reportedly told Abbas that “China
and Palestine are good friends and good partners who trust and support
each other”.
“China is willing to strengthen coordination and cooperation with
Palestine to promote an early, comprehensive, just and lasting solution
to the Palestine issue,” Xi said.
China renews support for peaceful resolution of Israeli-Palestinian conflict
14 Jun 2023

China has remained an ardent supporter of Palestine at the UN. Over the
years it has supported and co-sponsored resolutions calling for
Palestinian statehood and denouncing Israel – as well as supporting Palestine’s elevation to “non-state observer status” in 2011.
But some say China’s relationship with Palestine is more rhetoric than action. While Beijing does provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians,
two-way trade only totalled US$158 million in 2022, compared with US$21
billion with Israel, according to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. “China has historically shown sympathy towards the Palestinians, at
least publicly,” said Guy Burton, an adjunct professor at Brussels
School of Governance who specialises in the Middle East.
“However, in practice, China’s focus is more on its relations with
Israel due to economic and commercial interests.”

Israel installs AI-powered gun at West Bank checkpoint as riot control
How about Israel?
While China did not officially recognise the state of Israel until 1992, economic activity between the two countries began expanding rapidly
following a state trip by Jiang Zemin in 2000.
China has grown to become Israel’s second largest trading partner,
behind the United States. Over the past decade alone, trade between the
two countries has grown by 127 per cent, according to data from the Israel-based Institute for National Security Studies.
Bilateral relations hit a crescendo in 2017 when the two sides
established the China-Israel innovative comprehensive partnership, with promises to expand cooperation in a myriad of fields including science, technology, agriculture, clean energy and finance.
But some aspects of their ties have come under scrutiny recently because
of the growing US-China rivalry, observers said.
Chinese leader ‘personally intervened’ to secure Saudi-Iran deal
30 Apr 2023

“Israel is a close partner of the US, so it has been pressured by US officials to curb its relation with China,” said Tuvia Gering, a
researcher with the Diane and Guilford Glazer Israel-China Policy Centre
at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv.
Gering added that despite US pressure to rein in Chinese investment and infrastructure projects, officially Israel is still trying to maintain
cordial relations with Beijing.
But while economic relations have blossomed, the two sides are less than cordial on the world stage.
Since 2021, Israel has joined the United States and other countries at
the United Nations Human Rights Council in denouncing China’s alleged
abuses in Xinjiang.
And China has long been a vocal critic of Israel’s treatment of
Palestinians at the UN, often singling out Israel as the instigator of
the conflict.
In May, Chinese ambassador to the UN Geng Shuang called on Israel to
stop “provocations” in the West Bank after Israel’s far-right security minister made controversial statements during a visit to the Temple
Mount holy site.
And while China called for a cessation of military activity targeting
civilians “on all sides” after outbreaks of violence in January, Geng called on “Israel in particular” to stop violence from “spiralling out
of control”.

Islamic Jihad threatens Israel after death of Palestinian hunger striker
What is China’s proposed solution?
China has long been a public proponent of the “two-state solution” – a framework also supported by the United States – which would see the
creation of the independent state of Palestine to exist alongside the
state of Israel.
Last month, to mark the 75th anniversary of “the Nakba” – the mass displacement of Palestinians following the establishment of the state of
Israel in 1948 – Qin said the “fundamental way out” of the conflict was through the two-state solution.
Over the years, Beijing has promoted a number of multi-point peace
plans. The latest, which was unveiled on Wednesday, calls for an
independent Palestine – based on the 1967 borders – with East Jerusalem
as its capital.
Beijing’s plan also calls for increased development and humanitarian assistance to Palestinians, and the convening of a large-scale
international conference to resume peace talks.
Since 2013, China has tried to facilitate peace talks on multiple
occasions, but with little success. The most concrete action was in
2017, when Beijing hosted a peace symposium between Palestine and
Israel, although the result was a non-binding declaration.
But while many observers have previously doubted China’s commitment to negotiating a peace settlement between the two sides, its role in
brokering a recent deal to restore diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia
and Iran has led some to reconsider.
“All of a sudden no one’s laughing any more,” Gering said. “People are taking Beijing more seriously.”

Iran’s new missile can reportedly reach Israel and US military bases in Middle East
What are the possible stumbling blocks?
Despite China’s recent success, doubts persist as to whether a
negotiated two-state solution is possible under current conditions.
There has been growing disillusionment owing to the failure of previous large-scale negotiations – such as the Oslo Accords of the 1990s and the
2000 Camp David Summit – to bring lasting peace between both sides.
Support for a two-state solution has fallen to just 33 per cent and 34
per cent between Palestinians and non-Arab Israelis respectively,
according to The Palestine/Israel Pulse survey released earlier this year. Renewed hostilities, a dysfunctional and fractured Palestinian
government, increased Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, and
a hard-right government in Tel Aviv have also dampened sentiment towards negotiations in the near-term as well.
China urges Israel to stop ‘provocations’ and ‘encroachment’ as tensions
flare
25 May 2023

“There’s a general – even growing – view among us political scientists who focus on the Middle East that [the two state solution] is becoming
more remote,” Burton said.
And then there is Israel’s reluctance to allow China to act as a
mediator because of Beijing’s perceived pro-Palestinian bias.
“Israel doesn’t actually consider China to be a balanced or serious mediator,” Gering said. “It inhibits Israel’s desire to engage with
China on this issue.”
According to Gering, China’s criticism of Israel at the UN and its
reluctance to denounce Palestinian violence have all contributed to the perception that China is just “looking for a seat at the table”.
Gering added that if China was serious about negotiating a settlement,
it would have to start taking Israel’s security concerns seriously.

CONVERSATIONS (1)
Connor Mycroft
Connor Mycroft

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Connor Mycroft joined the SCMP as a graduate trainee in 2022 after
completing his master's of journalism from the University of Hong Kong.
He had previously interned with the Post on the video desk over the
winter of 2021/2022. Before that, he spent three years living in
mainland China teaching English.

China-Middle East relations
Israel
|
Diplomacy

China’s Xi meets Palestinian leader Abbas, offers 3-point proposal for ‘lasting solution’ to conflict with Israel
Renewed mediation offer comes as Chinese President Xi Jinping and
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas announce bilateral strategic partnership
China has been increasingly vocal on the Israeli-Palestinian issue as it
steps up peacemaking efforts in the Middle East and Ukraine
Kawala Xie
Kawala Xie
+ FOLLOW
Published: 2:59pm, 14 Jun, 2023


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15 Jun 2023

The Beijing headquarters of global development lender Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank. Photo: Reuters
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China’s Xi meets Mahmoud Abbas, offers 3-point plan to resolve
Palestinian issue

14 Jun 2023

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas at a
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Wednesday. Photo: AFP
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Chinese President Xi Jinping and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas at a
signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on
Wednesday. Photo: AFP
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas at a
signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on
Wednesday. Photo: AFP
Chinese President Xi Jinping has restated Beijing’s willingness to “play
a positive role” in finding an early and lasting solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The renewed mediation offer came as Xi met visiting Palestinian leader
Mahmoud Abbas in Beijing on Wednesday, where they announced the setting
up of a bilateral strategic partnership.
Hailing their relationship as one between good friends and partners, Xi
also proposed a three-point solution to the Palestinian issue.
Xi said Abbas was the first Arab leader to be welcomed by China this
year, which fully demonstrated the “high-level” of bilateral relations. “China and Palestine are good friends and good partners who trust and
support each other,” Xi said. “Facing a changing world [with events
never before seen] in 100 years and new changes in the Middle East,
China is willing to strengthen coordination and cooperation with
Palestine to promote an early, comprehensive, just and lasting solution
to the Palestine issue,” he was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
“Today, we jointly announced the establishment of the China-Palestinian strategic partnership, which will be an important milestone in the
history of bilateral relations,” he said.
Xi Jinping and Mahmoud Abbas inspect a guard of honour ahead of their
meeting in Beijing. Photo: dpa
Xi Jinping and Mahmoud Abbas inspect a guard of honour ahead of their
meeting in Beijing. Photo: dpa
Xi also reaffirmed China’s willingness to “play a positive role” to push for peace talks on the Palestinian issue, as he put forward a new
three-point solution.
The proposal calls for an independent Palestine on the basis of the 1967 borders – with East Jerusalem as its capital, increased development and humanitarian assistance to Palestinians, as well as an end to
provocative actions and the creation of conditions for peace talks
through larger-scale international meetings.
Abbas, who arrived in Beijing for a four-day visit on Tuesday, thanked
Beijing for its political support for Palestinians and briefed Xi on the ongoing tensions with Israel.
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A weekly curated round-up of social, political and economic stories from
China and how they impact the world.
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By registering, you agree to our T&C and Privacy Policy
He also discussed efforts to mobilise international support for
Palestine to obtain a full membership at the United Nations, as well as
ways to enhance relations with China in “all fields”, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency.
China urges Israel to stop ‘provocations’ and ‘encroachment’ as tensions
flare
25 May 2023

The head of the Palestinian Authority, whose last visit to China was in
2017, is also expected to meet Premier Li Qiang, according to media reports. China has been increasingly vocal on the Israeli-Palestinian issue as it
steps up peacemaking efforts in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Beijing had also offered to facilitate Israeli-Palestinian peace talks
in April when Foreign Minister Qin Gang spoke over the phone with their respective foreign ministers.
It has also ramped up criticism against Israel over its illegal
expansion of settlements in the occupied territories, and called for
multiple emergency meetings at the United Nations in response to
conflicts at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Gaza Strip.
Violence hits Al-Aqsa mosque after Israeli police raids, rocket fire
exchanged at Gaza border
03:48

Violence hits Al-Aqsa mosque after Israeli police raids, rocket fire
exchanged at Gaza border

Violence hits Al-Aqsa mosque after Israeli police raids, rocket fire
exchanged at Gaza border
This comes amid a shifting geopolitical dynamics in the Middle East
after a China-brokered peace deal saw ties restored in March between
Saudi Arabia and Iran after seven years of hostilities, and Saudi Arabia
and Syria agreed to restore diplomatic ties last month after nearly a
decade.
Meeting his Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Maliki in Beijing on
Tuesday, Qin reaffirmed China’s support for a peaceful resolution of the Palestine issue amid “profound changes in the Middle East”.
“The situation in the Middle East is undergoing profound changes, and strengthening strategic autonomy and enhancing solidarity and
cooperation are the common aspiration and general trend,” Qin said,
according to a readout from China’s foreign ministry.
“China attaches great importance to the Palestinian issue and has always firmly supported the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore
their legitimate national rights. China will continue to support the
right direction of the peace talks and contribute Chinese wisdom and
strength to the settlement of the Palestinian issue.”
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang with Palestinian counterpart Riyad
al-Maliki in Beijing on Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang with Palestinian counterpart Riyad
al-Maliki in Beijing on Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua
China has proposed initiatives and organised peace talks on the
Palestinian issue several times during Xi’s term but without substantial results.
In separate meetings in 2013, Xi proposed a four-point peace initiative
to Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The initiative called for a “two-state solution”, a halt to settlement activities in the occupied territories, coordinated international
efforts to resolve the conflict, and a focus on Palestinian development.
The proposal was expanded in 2017 during Abbas’ last visit, with a call
for a three-way dialogue with both the Israelis and Palestinians, and
support for Palestinian development through China’s Belt and Road
Initiative.

CONVERSATIONS (12)
Kawala Xie
Kawala Xie

+ FOLLOW
Kawala joined the Post in 2022 and has worked in both news and tech
after graduating from Columbia Journalism School. Previously based in
the US and Australia, she has worked for multiple international news
outlets including Al Jazeera, SBS Australia and Shenzhen Television. She specialises in Asia affairs, breaking news reporting and video production.

China-Middle East relations

As China’s millionaires keep leaving, outflows may be ‘more damaging
than usual’
14 Jun 2023
China is expected to lose 13,500 high-net-worth individuals this year, according to a new report, and the immigration-consulting sector is
booming. Photo: Shutterstock
News
China gives green light to its first thorium-powered nuclear reactor
15 Jun 2023
Molten salt reactors can be built in areas far from large bodies of
water, such as the Gobi Desert. Photo: TNS
News
Beijing should reconsider relationship with Moscow, Chinese scholar says
14 Jun 2023
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put the “no limits” friendship between Beijing and Moscow under the microscope. Photo: AP
News
China ‘anxious and regretful’ over Ukraine war, PLA strategist says
14 Jun 2023
China is working on a peace plan for Ukraine, but has admitted it is
hard to get all sides to sit down for talks. Photo: AFP
News
Chinese premier to make first overseas trip to France and Germany
15 Jun 2023
Li Qiang and Emmanuel Macron pictured during their meeting in Beijing in
April. Photo: AFP
Magazines
What is it like for a tourist to smoke cannabis in green-lit Thailand?
22 Dec 2022
Thailand recently decriminalised marijuana for medical or industrial
use, and cannabis shops have popped up all over the country. A marijuana
sign at the entrance of Walking Street in Patong, Phuket, Thailand.
Photo: Dave Smith
China Macro Economy
China to eat first local durians in June. Is Malaysian, Thai dominance
at risk?
23 May 2023
A display of Thai fruits at an Aeon supermarket in Hong Kong. Photo:
Ralph Jennings
1

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