"China can be a key player in disarming Iran
of its nuclear weapons," President Shimon Peres told
his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao Friday during their meeting at the parliament building in Beijing.
Beijing Olympics
Beijing: Minister Majadele late for Israeli flag-raising ceremony at Olympic village / Nadav Tzantziper
Minister shows up only after Hatikva played, Israeli flag raised. President Peres staying at hotel near Olympic stadium so as not to desecrate Sabbath on way to opening ceremony
President Hu responded by saying “we would like to reinforce our support for stability and peace in the Middle East. We are following every regional development in the Middle East and Iran and are working constructively to increase China’s contribution and involvement in that area.”
Peres landed in Beijing Thursday as a guest of the Chinese government and Olympic Committee. Red carpets were rolled out to greet the Israeli president, and all roads leading from the airport to the Olympic stadium were closed for traffic until Peres' convoy reached his hotel.
Shortly after his arrival the president met with the Israeli athletes at the Olympic village.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that the US would not "say yes or no" to an Israeli military strike on Iran. In an interview with Yahoo News and Politico, she also said that Iran's answer to the incentives package offered by world powers “is not a really serious answer”, and warned that new economic sanctions were the next likely step if the country continued to refuse to freeze its nuclear program.
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