DATE=4/12/2000 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=CHINA-ISRAEL (L) NUMBER=2-261204 BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON DATELINE=BEIJING CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: Chinese President Jiang Zemin begins a visit to Israel Wednesday that will include discussions of military sales strongly opposed by the United States. VOA correspondent Roger Wilkison reports China is billing Mr. Jiang's trip to the Middle East as a chance to enhance Beijing's presence in the regional peace process. TEXT: Mr. Jiang has embarked on a 15-day trip that will take him to Egypt, Turkey, Greece and South Africa as well as Israel and the Palestinian Authority. But the Jewish state is the centerpiece of his trip. Although he will spend one day and one night in a Palestinian-controlled area of the West Bank and another day in Alexandria, Egypt, Israel dominates his Middle Eastern agenda. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi-- speaking through an interpreter -- says Mr. Jiang's trip offers Beijing an opportunity to involve itself in Middle East peacemaking. /////INTERPRETER ACTUALITY///// President Jiang Zemin will visit the region at an important period of historical change in the region. During the visit, he will have an in-depth exchange of views with leaders in the region on the Middle East peace process. /////END ACTUALITY///// Mr. Jiang's trip is the first ever to Israel and the Palestinian Authority by a Chinese head of state. It underscores how sturdy Sino-Israeli ties have grown despite Beijing's steadfast support for a Palestinian homeland. Mr. Sun, the Chinese spokesman, says solving the Palestinian question is still the key to regional peace. /////INTERPRETER ACTUALITY///// We maintain that to help and assist the Palestinian people to resume their legitimate interests, including returning to their homeland, is the responsibility of the international community. We hope that both sides can adopt a flexible and pragmatic attitude so as to solve the question of Palestine at an early date. /////END ACTUALITY///// A Palestinian diplomat in Beijing says China can play a vital role in pushing the peace process forward because of Beijing's close ties with both sides. But western diplomats say they doubt Mr. Jiang has any concrete proposals up his sleeve. They also say they do not believe he will try to upstage Washington's role as the main peace broker in the Middle East. China's blossoming ties with Israel rely heavily on the sale by the Jewish state of tens of millions of dollars worth of military hardware to Beijing. Mr. Jiang now has his eye on a 250-million dollar airborne command center. Israel has installed an advanced radar system which can track and shoot down enemy planes aboard a Russian-built aircraft. The aircraft is ready for delivery to China, and Israel says Beijing wants to buy two more such planes. But the United States has been lobbying Israel to scrap the sale because it fears China could use the plane against Taiwanese and even U-S aircraft if war were to break out in the Taiwan Strait. During a visit to Israel earlier this month, U-S Defense Secretary William Cohen pressed Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to kill the deal. Mr. Barak said he would consider U-S objections to the sale, but he would not promise to stop it. (SIGNED) NEB/RW/FC 12-Apr-2000 06:00 AM EDT (12-Apr-2000 1000 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .