From the Liveblog of
Thursday, June 15, 2023
PA’s Abbas meets Chinese premier in Beijing
Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets with visiting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as Beijing tries to elevate relations and increase its overall presence in the Middle East.
Li, who took office just this spring with little foreign policy experience, calls Abbas “an old friend of the Chinese people” who has made “important contributions to the promotion of China-Palestinian relations.”
The meeting came a day after Abbas was greeted with full military honors by Xi Jinping, China’s president and head of the ruling Communist Party.
The sides then announced the formation of a “strategic partnership,” paving the way to boost China’s influence in the region at a time when Beijing’s chief rival for global influence, the United States, is seen as withdrawing from the region following the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and complications in ties with regional power Saudi Arabia.
The Times of Israel Community.