Abbas arrives in China, Netanyahu to arrive tomorrow

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are visiting China at the same time but officials here are sceptical about a likelihood of their meeting though Beijing has offered to facilitate it.
Abbas arrived here today at the invitation of President Xi Jinping, his first visit to China after Palestine got UN Observer status while Netanyahu will arrive here tomorrow for bilateral talks after he got re-elected last month.
It will be the Israeli leader's first visit here after the new Chinese leadership headed by Xi took over after a once-in-a-decade leadership change earlier this year.
Chinese official media said their visit was a coincidence and there is no likelihood of the two crossing paths.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, however, said Beijing is willing to facilitate their meeting if they so wish.
Their visits were seen as China's expanding foot prints in the energy rich Middle East and its close ties with Iran which faced a host of sanctions over its nuclear programme.