Netanyahu says China has invited him for a state visit #Netanyahu #China #invited #state #visit

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he has received an invitation for an official visit to China, but did not disclose whether or when the trip would take place.

The Israeli leader made the announcement during a meeting with visiting members of the U.S. Congress. The invitation follows several recent overtures by Beijing to increase its diplomatic footprint in the region and comes at a time of heightened friction between the Biden administration and Netanyahu’s ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox government.

Netanyahu’s office said the “projected visit” to China would be his fourth as prime minister. It said it notified the Biden administration, which has a rocky relationship with China, about the invitation last month. It declined to comment on possible dates for the trip.

FILE - In this image taken from video and released by the press service of Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner private military contractor, on Saturday, May 20, 2023, he speaks while holding a Russian flag in front of his forces in Bakhmut, Ukraine. Some convicts recruited by Wagner to fight in Ukraine are coming home to Russia and committing new crimes. That has raised fears in communities where the now-freed convicts are returning, and reports of killings, robberies and sexual assaults by some of them are emerging in Russian media. (Prigozhin Press Service via AP, File)

China’s muted reaction to the Wagner mercenary group uprising against Russia’s military belies Beijing’s growing anxieties over the war in Ukraine and how this affects the global balance of power.

In this aerial photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, a landslide site is seen in Miansi Township of Wenchuan County in southwestern China's Sichuan Province, Tuesday, June 27, 2023. Several people were found dead and others remained missing after landslides hit a county in China's southwestern Sichuan province on Tuesday, leading to authorities evacuating more than 900 people. (Xinhua via AP)

Four people have died and three others are missing after landslides hit a county in China’s southwestern Sichuan province, leading authorities to evacuate more than 900 people.

In this photo provided by U.S. Navy, the United States and Vietnam national ensigns are raised in unison on the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) in Da Nang, Vietnam, for a port visit, Sunday, June 25, 2023. The American aircraft carrier made a port call in Vietnam on Sunday — a rare visit by one of the U.S. Navy’s biggest ships that comes as Washington and Beijing both step up efforts to bolster ties with Southeast Asian nations.(Mass Communication 3rd Class Eric Stanton/U.S. Navy via AP)

A U.S. aircraft carrier and two guided missile cruisers are visiting Vietnam in a rare port call that comes as the United States and China increasingly vie for influence in Southeast Asia.

FILE - Packages are seen stacked on the doorstep of a residence, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021, in Upper Darby, Pa. Conservatives anxious to counter the U.S.’s leading economic adversary have set their sights on a top trade priority for labor unions and progressives: cracking down on the deluge of duty-free packages coming in from China. The changing political dynamic could have major ramifications for small businesses and consumers importing products from China valued at less than $800. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Conservatives in Congress are anxious to counter China, which is America’s leading economic adversary.

China has taken a more strident role in Mideast diplomacy in recent months, brokering a deal to restore ties between Israel’s archenemy, Iran, and Saudi Arabia in April and hosting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Beijing earlier this month.

Israel and China have close economic relations, but Israel’s diplomatic and security ties with the U.S. have precluded closer collaboration with China.

Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, returned to power in late 2022 after forming a coalition with ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox allies, the most hard-line and religious government in Israel’s 75-year history.

After launching an attempted overhaul of the country’s judiciary in January while Netanyahu is on trial on corruption charges, the government has faced weekly mass protests as well as criticism from Washington.

In light of that contentious judicial overhaul, as well as the government’s aggressive advancement of West Bank settlements, Netanyahu has not yet been invited for a White House visit. Such visits are normally standard practice for Israeli leaders.

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