Chinese president visits Israel

Chinese President Jiang Zemin intends to pay an official visit to Israel starting today. This visit was described by observers as the first of its kind by a Chinese president.

The BBC's correspondent in Washington said on Tuesday that Chinese- Israeli relations might occupy a prominent position in the talks to be held in Washington between US President Bill Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, adding that these relations might constitute a subject of US pressure which made the US president summon Barak to Washington to convene a meeting with him.

The correspondent added that the US Department of Defense is worried of the possibility that Israel will sell the technology of the early warning AWACS planes to China, SANA reported.