China’s President Xi Jinping urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to restart peace talks with the Palestinians as soon as possible, days after he tried to convince Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to revive discussions.
Xi’s comments to Netanyahu and Abbas this week reflect China’s intent to strengthen its diplomatic role in a region where its influence has historically been weak. On Monday, Xi floated China’s “four-point proposal” for peace with Abbas, who was visiting China in the same week as Netanyahu.
The moves by China come as the United States is engaged in a fresh diplomatic campaign to revive peace talks, which collapsed in 2010 over Israel’s continued expansion of settlements.
Netanyahu - the first top Israeli leader to visit China since former prime minister Ehud Olmert in 2007 - met Xi on Thursday, part of a five-day visit to China aimed at boosting bilateral trade with China.
“I hope the two sides can make joint efforts to take practical measures to gradually build up mutual trust, to restart peace talks as soon as possible and achieve substantive progress,” Xi told Netanyahu, according to a statement carried on the website of China’s foreign ministry late on Thursday.
“Only by protecting the legitimate rights and interests of all countries, having respect for each other’s concerns can there be true realisation of regional peace and stability,” Xi told Netanyahu.