Palestinian president on 4-day China visit

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas began his China visit on Tuesday. Pic/AP

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas began a visit to China on Tuesday that comes as Beijing is seeking a larger role in Middle East politics and competing for energy resources. In announcing the visit, China's Foreign Ministry said China was willing to help broker relations between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government that have deteriorated to the lowest level in recent years. The ministry did not say who Abbas would meet in Beijing or give other details of his four-day visit.

Increased fighting over the last year between Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank has resulted in the deadliest period of violence between the sides in years in that territory. The visit also comes after China hosted talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia that resulted in the two restoring diplomatic relations. That development was seen as representing a diplomatic victory for China as Gulf Arab states perceive the United States slowly withdrawing from the wider region.

Former US NSA visits Taiwan

Former US Deputy National Security Advisor Matt Pottinger is leading a think tank to Taiwan, where he will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen to discuss regional security issues, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced. Pottinger will also meet with National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Hsu Szu-chien and Deputy Foreign Minister Roy Lee during their visit, MOFA said.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever