How do Palestinians perceive China’s rise?
CHINA’S PRESENCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST: THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE ONE BELT, ONE ROAD INITIATIVE (ROUTLEDGE)
This chapter examines the nature of previous Sino-Palestinian relations and the historic closeness that emerged between Beijing and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in the 1960s and 1970s. The chapter addresses the present state of relations between China and Palestinians. It includes Palestinian public opinion towards China following the Pew Research Center's 2015 global survey of attitudes towards China and accounts for the mixed sentiments by suggesting the reasons for the relative cooling in relations between the two. The chapter also discusses the two approaches being taken by the Palestinian leadership to break the deadlock of the present Oslo process and the way that China might play a role. It also considers the Palestinian civil society option: the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and how China is perceived within it. China was the first non-Arab state to recognize the PLO diplomatically in 1965. This began a relatively close relationship between the Chinese government under Mao Zedong and the Palestinians.
