A History of the Palestinian Community in China

"These circumstances facilitated the emergence of an early Palestinian presence in the PRC, albeit initially of a transitory character. In 1966, following appeals from the PLO, the Chinese leadership agreed to offer armaments and military training for Palestinian guerrillas and specialists. The first contingents, numbering no more than 12 to 15 men and largely drawn from Fatah’s al-Asifah forces, began to arrive in the PRC in 1967-1968 for what amounted to nearly three months of training. Mustafa al-Safarini (nicknamed Abu Hadid), the PLO’s second ambassador to China and one of the earliest participants in such missions, noted in his autobiography Ayami fi-l-Sin (My Days n China) that the training they received, while including some basic military instruction, was largely dominated by theoretical study, revolutionary cultural exposure (including visits to factories, communes, monuments, and Jiang Qing’s operas), and meetings with high-ranking political and military figures in the Communist Party (CPC). At the conclusion of their training, the men usually returned to the front and in some cases became military instructors themselves. (Fatah explicitly incorporated Chinese writings on guerrilla warfare tactics in its manuals.)[2] In more exceptional cases, some continued on to North Vietnam, Laos, or North Korea for further training. It is probable that the vast majority of these men never saw the PRC again, but some did eventually return. Mustafa al-Safarini for instance, under PLO orders in 1970, worked in the Palestinian embassy and, through the help of Zhou Enlai, became—in all likelihood—the first Arab student formally enrolled at Peking University.[3]" (thanks Mohammed)