President Mahmoud Abbas’ envoy to China said on Friday that Beijing backs their United Nations membership bid.  General Secretary of the Palestinian People’s Party, Bassam al-Salhi, was in China on a three-day trip to discuss Israeli attack in Gaza, echoed earlier calls from China’s Foreign Ministry that Beijing would support Palestinian statehood and its entry into the United Nations. “They (China) support the Palestinian right for ending occupation and building a Palestinian state … and support the bid of the Palestinian membership in the United Nations,” communist al-Salhi told journalists in an interview after meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

China’s official Xinhua new agency quoted Yang as saying China “supports Palestine’s entry into the United Nations and other international organizations and understand, respects and backs Palestine’s bid for the UN observer status”.

General Secretary of the Palestinian People’s Party, Bassam al-Salhi, during a press conference in China (Photo: Xinhua)

After their drive for full UN membership failed in the UN Security Council last year amid US opposition, the Palestinians have launched a watered-down bid for recognition as a “non-member state”, similar to the Vatican’s UN status.
This request can be approved by the 193-nation UN General Assembly and seems certain to pass. China’s Foreign Ministry has repeatedly called for both sides to resume peace talks, and said it was concerned about Israel’s recent large-scale military operations around Gaza.