Arafat peace overture in Beijing

Jiang and Arafat greet each other in Beijing

BEIJING, China -- Palestinian President Yasser Arafat says he is ready to begin talks with Israel to end 11 months of bloodshed in the Middle East.

But he accused the Israelis of blocking negotiations.

His comments came after a senior Arafat aide questioned whether a meeting between the Palestinian leader and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres should go ahead in light of a fresh wave of fighting.

"We are ready at all times but they are refusing as you know," Arafat told Reuters when asked whether the Palestinians and Israelis were likely to renew peace negotiations.

Arafat was speaking after meeting Li Peng, chairman of the National People's Congress, China's parliament, and the number two in the Communist Party leadership, to brief him on the Middle East.

He met President Jiang Zemin later in the afternoon before flying to Vietnam on an Asian tour that will also take him to Malaysia.

China described Arafat's tour as "a working visit" to brief the Chinese leadership on the current situation in the Middle East, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

China's involvement

Arafat was expected to urge China -- one of the five permanent members of the Security Council -- to play a more active role to help end Middle East violence.

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Xinhua quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxin as saying that China has repeatedly called for "restraint of the maximum from both Israel and Palestine, and especially Israel," and urged the two sides to resume negotiations.

In remarks made to Xinhua, Arafat said he was ready to meet any official who could end the conflict. But Xinhua quoted him as adding: "In Israel, it is Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, not Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who makes decisions."

Sharon heads the rightist Likud party, the senior partner in a unity government with Peres's more dovish Labor Party.

Beijing has been largely even-handed between its old Arab allies and Israel, a key arms supplier. But it has recently condemned Israel's use of force and backed a Palestinian proposal to send international observers to the region, which Israel opposes.

Analysts say China wants to be seen taking an active role in the area by keeping in step with world opinion.

But some have linked Beijing's recent criticism to Israel's cancellation of the sale to China of a $250 million Phalcon early-warning radar system last year after U.S. pressure.

Reuters contributed to this report.