Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday China has been in a fair position in the Middle East issue as China and Palestine enjoy solid political as well as economic relations.  

The relations have kept sound momentum since the two sides established relations in 1964, Abbas told a news conference after he arrived in Beijing Tuesday afternoon on a three-day state visit to China.

It is Abbas' first China trip since he succeeded Yasser Arafat to be the president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). China holds that the Palestinian people should decide on their fate by themselves, said Abbas, adding that China shows enthusiasm to provide assistance to Palestine and has participated in many projects in Palestine.

Regarding the implementation of roadmap plan on Middle East peace, Abbas stressed that an independent Palestinian state coexisting with Israel should be established, Israel should withdraw from territory captured in the 1967 Middle East War and the issue of refugees should be fairly resolved according to UN Resolution 194.

The difficulty to implement the roadmap lies in the reserved attitude held by Israel, which has no sincerity at all, said Abbas. He said he is carrying out a plan for building a Palestinian state since the roadmap gets stranded now, but he did not elaborate on what sort of plan it is.

As to the Islamic Hamas' decision to race in the Palestinian legislative elections slated for July, Abbas said the PNA welcomes Hamas' participation in the elections.

Hamas' decision to participate in the legislative elections means it has begun to involve itself in the political system, said Abbas.

(Xinhua News Agency May 18, 2005)