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Israel's Netanyahu, Palestine's Abbas head to China

xuxu1457

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Israel's Netanyahu, Palestine's Abbas head to China | Reuters
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BEIJING | Sat May 4, 2013 5:10am BST
(Reuters) - China will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas next week for separate bilateral talks as it tries to shore up its role in a region where its diplomatic influence is limited.

Netanyahu's visit -- the first trip by a top Israeli leader to China since former prime minister Ehud Olmert visited in 2007 -- will be focused on trade, though experts have also said he is likely to discuss Iran's nuclear programme with China.

China, Iran's top oil customer and a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, has opposed unilateral sanctions on Tehran such as those imposed by Washington and the European Union and has called repeatedly for talks to resolve the stand-off over Iran's nuclear programme.

Netanyahu's visit comes as a U.S. official said Israel has conducted an airstrike in Syria, apparently targeting a building, a development that is likely to worry Beijing.

Netanyahu is set to arrive on Monday in China's commercial capital of Shanghai, where he will meet business leaders, and fly to Beijing after for talks with Chinese leaders. Abbas will arrive in Beijing on Sunday.

It is unclear whether Netanyahu and Abbas will meet in China. China's foreign ministry said the country "is willing to offer necessary assistance if the leaders of Palestine and Israel have the will to meet in China".

China has traditionally had a low profile in Middle East diplomacy, but is keen to assert its role as a key player in international politics. It has tried on and off over the years to mediate in the Israeli-Palestinian issue but with little apparent success.

The visits by Netanyahu and Abbas come nearly a month after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Abbas discussed reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

China believes that "strengthening its relationship with Jerusalem would be a sign that it gradually is coming to possess a foothold in the region, while somewhat offsetting, and perhaps even undermining, American political influence there", the Institute of National Security Studies (INSS), a top Israeli think-tank, said in a paper on Thursday.

Beijing has maintained close relations with the Palestinians for decades. In recent years, it has also cultivated good ties with Israel, especially in the field of defence.

In an interview with China's state news agency Xinhua on Friday, Abbas said he will let the Chinese leaders know the barriers currently rooted in the Palestinians' talks with Israel, as he "expects Beijing's contribution to the stalled peace process".

"It is very good that Netanyahu will visit China too because it is a good opportunity that the Chinese listen to both of us," Abbas was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

Abbas said he will urge the Chinese leadership "to use its relationship with Israel to remove the obstacles that obstruct the Palestinian economy".

Israeli officials say Netanyahu is expected to sign several bilateral deals with China in sectors such as agriculture and water during his five-day visit, with the aim of boosting bilateral trade worth about $10 billion.

Netanyahu will also raise the issue of Iran, according to the INSS. Israel, the United States, the EU and their allies say Iran is amassing the capability to produce a nuclear bomb, an allegation the Islamic Republic denies.

Netanyahu, at the United Nations last September, set a "red line" of spring or summer for when Iran would be close to weapons capability, suggesting prospects for an Israeli attack around that time. But Iran's latest talks with world powers plus adjustments in Tehran's uranium enrichment processes are widely thought to have pushed back that deadline.

(Additional reporting by Crispian Balmer in Jerusalem; Editing by Michael Perry)
Abbas arrived Beijing at 5 May, Netanyahu will go to Beijing at 6 May:
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Abbas arrived Beijing
 
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very strange news....
the relationship between isareal and Palestine doesn't sound important for china...
 
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i think China govt. wants to convert Israel to favor China than America :D

No, the PRC doesn't bother much about the conflict. This could have been a pressure exerted by the friends of China. That's all. Anyway, I can't say much what the PRC is thinking about.

I'm a big supporter of the PRC :D
 
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No, the PRC doesn't bother much about the conflict. This could have been a pressure exerted by the friends of China. That's all. Anyway, I can't say much what the PRC is thinking about.

I'm a big supporter of the PRC :D

Really ? :woot: but your king supports USA so much :undecided:
 
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BCS china has well relation with both Israel and Palestine, Palestine think that China is more fair than US.
 
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Really ? :woot: but your king supports USA so much :undecided:
No, we support the Chinese too. Our relations with them is strategically important. We don't support every policy implemented by the US :) ,if that's what you're saying. Many examples can speak for that.

That's a very limited mindset to believe that we support one group because an X and Y person support the opposite.

Today, your FM has met her Saudi counterpart in Riyadh ;)
 
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No, we support the Chinese too. Our relations with them is strategically important. We don't support every policy implemented by the US :) ,if that's what you're saying. Many examples can speak for that.

That's a very limited mindset to believe that we support one group because an X and Y person support the opposite.

Today, your FM has met her Saudi counterpart in Riyadh ;)

meeting and supporting are different stuffs :D
 
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meeting and supporting are different stuffs :D

Indeed, I never suggested that China is an ally of ours ,but our relations with the PRC is very strong. Also, you seem like as if you were suggesting that the Saudis adopt everything the Americans do in the region and that's utterly nonsense. No, we armed the FSA to their fullest without notifiying the Americans! WhoTF is going to tell me what to do and what not to do. Many examples speak for themselves :p

Oh and by the way, we SAUDIS don't call him King ;)
 
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