Chinese Regime Announces Strategic Partnership With Palestinian Authority

Chinese leader Xi Jinping (R) and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas attend a welcoming ceremony in Beijing on June 14, 2023. Jade Gao/Pool via Getty Images

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced the establishment of a strategic partnership with the Palestinian Authority on June 14.

The announcement came during a meeting of the head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, with CCP head Xi Jinping.

During their meeting, Xi told Abbas that China is willing to assist the Palestinians in achieving internal reconciliation and promoting peace talks with Israel, according to Chinese state media.

Xi said China and the Palestinian Authority are good partners that trust and support each other. He noted that the CCP supports the cause of the Palestinian people to restore their national rights, and he laid out a general three-point proposal to resolve the conflict with Israel, in which China hopes to play the role of a mediator.

Abbas said the Palestinian Authority supports all of the CCP’s “national reunification” efforts—bringing Taiwan and Hong Kong under the CCP’s control.

According to Chinese state media, he also said the Palestinian Authority condemns external interference in China’s internal affairs on issues such as the situation in Hong Kong and in the region of Xinjiang.

Uyghur Muslims say there’s an ongoing genocide against them in the Xinjiang region by the CCP.

“Palestine trusts China and believes that China will continue to uphold justice. We will also firmly support China,” Abbas said at the meeting with Xi.

CCP Wants to Assist in Peace Talks

The CCP and the Palestinian Authority agreed to promote negotiations on free trade agreements.

The CCP will continue to transfer financial aid to the Palestinian Authority and support various projects that aim to build the Authority’s strength, according to the joint statement.

During Abbas’s fifth visit to China, he also met with other high-ranking CCP figures, including Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on June 15, when both pledged to further promote bilateral relations.

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas attends a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on June 15, 2023. Jade Gao/Pool Photo via AP

Abbas also met with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who told him that China attaches great importance to the Palestinian issue and will continue to support peace talks and offered to contribute “Chinese wisdom.”

In April, Qin spoke with the foreign minister of Israel, Eli Cohen, and Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki. During the talks, he said the Chinese regime is ready to assist in peace talks, based on a two-state solution.

In March, the Chinese regime mediated a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran. In February, the regime produced a 12-point proposal to end the war in Ukraine with no result.

China has historically had a good relationship with the Palestinians, and since Abbas’s last visit in 2017, the CCP has promoted its capabilities in mediation. However, it had little to show until the deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Close Ties With Palestinian Authority

While Chinese representatives occasionally visit Israel and the Palestinian territories, the CCP hasn’t played a major role in the conflicts or diplomacy, although it relies on the region for oil.

But the CCP and the Palestinian Authority reached an agreement in principle over four projects that China will fund, according to Mohammad Mustafa, economic adviser to Abbas.

They include a solar power installation, a factory for solar panel production, a steel plant, and road infrastructure development, Mustafa said.

On his last day in China, Abbas visited the Chinese Museum in Beijing and unveiled a bust of the former head of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Arafat also was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which the CCP was among the first to recognize.