Palestinian leader Abbas to visit China as Beijing expands regional engagement

In March, China helped to broker the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia after hosting secret negotiations in Beijing.

Last month, Geng Shuang, China’s ambassador to the UN, condemned Israel’s recent expansion of settlements in the West Bank, and a senior official’s visit to a sensitive holy site in Jerusalem that worsened the clashes.

“China will continue to firmly support the Palestinian people and their just cause to restore their legitimate national rights,” Geng said.

Beijing has supported the Palestine Liberation Organisation since its founding in the 1960s, and was among the first countries outside the Arab League or the then Organisation of the Islamic Conference to recognise the State of Palestine in 1988. China has consistently provided diplomatic and humanitarian support to Palestinians as a member of the UN Security Council.

China established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1992 and has maintained close ties through an “innovative comprehensive partnership”.

But in the past decade, Beijing has sought to expand its influence in the Middle East.

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping invited Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Beijing separately to propose a four-point plan to seek a peaceful solution between the two states, based on a “two-state solution” stemming from the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital of an independent State of Palestine with full sovereignty.