Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is greeted by Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang during a July 2017 visit to Beijing. Photo: Reuters/Mark Schiefelbein

The Palestinian Authority (PA) continues to strategically align itself counter to American interests in the greater geopolitical arena.

Earlier this month, Mahmoud Abbas again rejected Taiwan’s independence as he “emphasized that the State of Palestine will continue to stand by its friend, the Peoples Republic of China, and to support the One China policy and the protection of China’s national interests” [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 27, 2025].

As opposed to the Western countries that fund the PA, Abbas has consistently stood firmly with China’s dream of conquering Taiwan, as he said last year:

The Palestinian Presidency underlined the significance of preserving China’s territorial integrity, including the status of Taiwan … [and] voiced its firm support for China’s right to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity, endorsing the reunification of the entire land of China, which includes Taiwan.

[WAFA, official PA news agency, English edition, Jan. 13, 2024]

In a letter in January 2023, Abbas Zaki, a senior official in the PA’s ruling Fatah party, also wrote:

I express the stable and well-rooted position of Fatah in its support for the People’s Republic of China against Taiwan, which we consider an integral part of the united Chinese lands.

[Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki, Facebook page, January 8, 2023]

On a greater level, the PA has frequently stressed the idea of a strategic partnership both between China and the PA and China and the Muslim world.

Abbas’ senior advisor Mahmoud Al-Habbash says the PA wants to see the end of US world leadership, with the US being pushed aside for a “new multipolar world order” made up of “the Islamic world, Russia and China” to “realize justice.”

The official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida recently reported that Abbas also “praised the firm ties between the two states and the depth of the historical and continuous connection between Palestine and China, which has reached a level of strategic relations.”

This follows Al-Hayat‘s report in January 2025 following a meeting between Mahmoud Abbas and the Chinese envoy to the Middle East, when it wrote the following:

President Mahmoud Abbas …  expressed his appreciation for China’s positions that support the Palestinian rights in the international forums — which expresses the depth of the historical ties between the two countries and the two friendly peoples. He also expressed his great appreciation for [Chinese] President Xi Jinping and his positions that are committed to tightening the friendly relations, which have strengthened thanks to strategic ties between Palestine and China.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 19, 2025]

In October 2024, the official PA news agency, WAFA, also reported about Abbas’ meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, saying the meeting “emphasized the significance of the strategic partnership between the state of Palestine and its friend, the People’s Republic of China (PRC)” [WAFA, official PA news agency, Oct. 23, 2024].

Similar statements have also been made by other senior PA officials, such as Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh, who said in November 2024:

China needs to continue to strengthen its strategic ties with the Arab states and move on to a stage in which it will take action to reshape the international system.

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 28, 2024]

The author is the Founder and Director of Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), where a version of this article first appeared.