Rice to skip China visit

WASHINGTON: With escalation of tension in the Middle East, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would cancel her next week's scheduled visit to China.     

"Due to events in the Middle East, Rice will not be able to travel to Beijing," the State Department spokesperson, Sean McCormack, said in a statement on Sunday.
    
"Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte will travel to Beijing on January 7 to meet with Chinese officials and attend events in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the United States and the People's Republic of China," McCormack said.
    
It is now expected that Rice could visit the Middle East, in view of the escalation of tension in the region after Israeli ground forces entered Gaza. However, no official announcement has been made yet.
    
As the Gaza conflict entered ninth day on Sunday, over 500 Palestinians have been killed and more than 2,000 wounded in the air strikes by Israel on Gaza.
    
Rice said on Friday the US is working on a ceasefire between the Israelis and Hamas which is durable and sustainable.
    
Rice's China trip was to have been her last foreign trip before President George W Bush's term ends on January 20.