Xi proposes four-point plan to resolve Palestinian issue

President Xi Jinping gave visiting Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas a full state welcome in Beijing yesterday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a lowkey landing in Shanghai before flying to Beijing tomorrow to meet Chinese leaders.

Xi made four suggestions on the Palestine-Israel conflict in talks with Abbas, a week after a top Chinese envoy said Beijing would be willing to help broker peace talks. Analysts said it was a clear sign that China wanted to play a bigger role in Middle Eastern affairs as it sought more resources and markets in the region, from which it has traditionally remained distant.

"The arrangement of overlapping visits by the leaders of both Palestine and Israel, even by accident, suggests China’s new leaders’ increasing interest in Middle East affairs and its willingness to play a bigger role in mediating the long-stalled peace talks," said Professor Xiao Xian, director of Yunnan University’s Institute of Western Asian Studies.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said last week that "if the Palestinian and Israeli leaders want to meet each other in China, we will happily provide the necessary assistance." 

Abbas’ three-day trip is the first by a Middle Eastern leader since Xi took office in March. He is due to leave Beijing tonight, with Netanyahu due in the capital at about noon tomorrow.