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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
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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.
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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.
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