Majority of Palestinians support Chinese role in peace talks with Israel: survey

RIYADH, May 17 (Xinhua) -- An overwhelming 80 percent of Palestinians support a Chinese role in peace talks with Israel, after Beijing successfully brokered talks to restore diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Arab News reported on Sunday, quoting the results of a survey.

The survey respondents ranked China a close third following Russia and the European Union as a favorable peace broker to mediate with Israel, according to the poll conducted by YouGov in May at the request of Arab News, an English-language newspaper based in Saudi Arabia.

According to the poll, contrary to the support for China, nearly 60 percent of those surveyed no longer trust the United States to mediate Palestinian-Israeli negotiations despite 86 percent of the respondents admitting it holds significant influence over Israel.

Some survey respondents believe the U.S. biased stance on the Israeli-Palestinian issue have led to the recurring failure of peace talks.

Palestinians have never seen the U.S. as a neutral or fair broker, and the U.S. influence in the region is clearly declining, Arab News quoted analysts as saying.