Supports Peace Plan, China Tells Arafat
Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat won Chinese support Friday for a joint Jordanian-PLO plan for comprehensive Mideast peace talks.
Premier Zhao Ziyang, calling Israel and the United States the main obstacles to peace in the region, told Arafat in a two-hour meeting that Peking supports proposals for an international conference under U.N. auspices.
The PLO-Jordanian plan, signed by Arafat and King Hussein of Jordan on Feb. 11, would bring together all parties involved in the conflict and the five permanent U.N. Security Council members--the United States, Soviet Union, France, Britain and China.
Israel and the United States, however, have refused to deal with the PLO unless the PLO first recognizes Israel’s right to exist.
China, the first country approached by a PLO-Jordanian delegation seeking support for Middle East peace talks, is a staunch PLO backer, providing the PLO with more than $1 million in military and medical aid over the last three years.
“We always respect and support any program worked out by the PLO, Jordan and other Arab countries through consultations, provided it is in keeping with the interests of the Arab and Palestinian peoples,” Zhao told Arafat.
The New China News Agency said Zhao described the PLO-Jordanian plan as a “new move” that would give impetus to the peace process.
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