Palestinian support for China in Taiwan dispute not surprising

India

oi-Jagdish N Singh

The
Palestinian
leadership’s
links
with
the
communist
regime
in
Beijing
have
been
very
deep
since
long.
Interestingly,
Palestinian
leaders
have
had
a
tradition
of
backing
oppressive
regimes
and
organizations
around
the
world.

In
the
wake
of
US
House
of
Representatives
Speaker
Nancy
Pelosi’s
recent
visit
to
Taiwan,
Palestinian
Authority
President
Mahmoud
Abbas’s
office
in
Ramallah
issued
a
statement
which
says
that
“the
State
of
Palestine
stands
by
the
friendly
People’s
Republic
of
China.”
The
statement
expresses
Palestinian
“support
for
China’s
sovereignty
and
territorial
integrity,
stressing
its
right
to
defend
its
sovereign,
security
and
development
interests.”

Observers
say
Taiwan
has
been
a
self-governed
territory
since
the
Communists
came
to
power
in
Beijing
in
1949.
It
has
over
the
years
evolved
to
be
a
full-fledged
democracy.
Interaction
between
leaders
of
the
United
States
or
any
democratic
nation
ought
to
be
treated
as
normal.
No
responsible
government
in
the
world
would
allow
itself
to
approve
of
the
measures,
including
military
drill,
China
undertook
in
the
region
in
the
wake
of
the
Pelosi
visit
to
the
island
nation.

India’s
Ministry
of
External
Affairs
has
done
well
to
caution
China
against
“any
unilateral
action
to
change
the
status
quo”
in
the
region.
The
Palestinian
presidency
has
no
such
consideration
for
democratic
Taiwan.
The
Palestinian
leadership’s
links
with
the
inhuman
communist
regime
in
Beijing
have
been
very
deep
since
long.
Communist
China
has
long
been
supportive
of
Palestine
in
its
conflict
with
Israel.

In
Israel-Palestine
conflict,
India
maintains
non-partisan,
pro-peace
policy

Last
year,
in
an
open
debate
of
the
United
Nations
Security
Council
(UNSC),
Chinese
Minister
of
Foreign
Affairs
Wang
Yi
criticized
Israel
(and
the
US)
for
their
unwillingness
to
stop
t
he
conflict.
The
minister
called
Israel
to
exercise
restraint
in
terms
of
its
actions
against
Hamas.

Interestingly,
Palestinian
leaders
have
had
a
tradition
of
backing
oppressive
regimes
and
organizations
around
the
world.
In
the
1940s,
Palestinian
leader
Mufti
Hajj
Amin
al-Husseini
was
very
close
to
Adolf
Hitler.
At
that
point
of
time,
the
Palestinians,
like
Nazi
Germany,
perceived
the
British,
the
Jews
and
the
Communists
to
be
their
common
enemies.

In
the
1970s
and
’80s,
the
Palestinians
backed
the
Irish
Republican
Army
(IRA)
against
the
British.
The
PLO
provided
guns,
sabotage
devices
and
special
training
to
IRA
members.
In
1980,
Palestinian
leader
Yasser
Arafat
backed
Iraqi
dictator
Saddam
Hussein
when
the
latter
invaded
Iran.
In
1990,
Arafat
backed
Saddam
in
his
invasion
of
Kuwait.
Currently,
the
Palestinian
leaderships
is
on
very
fine
terms
with
North
Korean
dictator
Kim
Jong
Un.

The
observers
suggest
all
responsible,
pro-people
governments
in
the
world
must
be
watchful
about
the
activities
of
the
oppressive
regime-friendly
Palestinian
leaders.
They
could
coordinate
together
a
strategy
aimed
at
promoting
democratic
thinking
in
Palestine.

(Jagdish
N.
Singh
is
a
senior
journalist
based
in
New
Delhi.
He
is
also
Senior
Distinguished
Fellow
at
the
Gatestone
Institute,
New
York)

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opinions
expressed
in
this
article
are
the
personal
opinions
of
the
author.
The
facts
and
opinions
appearing
in
the
article
do
not
reflect
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of
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