Chinese leader Xi Jinping spent the first part of this year seeking to play global peacemaker, proposing a cease-fire in Ukraine and helping long-time rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran reach a diplomatic truce.
Israel pushed back, with Yuval Waks—deputy chief of the nation’s mission in Beijing—saying China’s failure to condemn the violence as “terrorists are holding children” was regrettable from a country with friendly ties to Israel. “Beijing has moved to paint itself as a global player,” he said. “You would expect them to offer some ideas or thoughts about how to resolve this situation, and yet we do not really see them offering anything.”Xi first waded into the Middle East peace process in March when he took credit for a detente between Iran and Saudi Arabia, after providing the physical site in Beijing for representatives from both sides to talk.
Xi’s engagement in the Middle East gave him credibility as a global statesman, as the Chinese leader faced pressure from the US for failing to condemn Russia’s war, and providing Moscow with diplomatic and economic shelter. China’s 12-point position paper on ending the war has been criticized by Ukraine and Western democracies for handing Russia territorial gains.
President Joe Biden’s administration has already dispatched the first tranche of a security aid package for Israel, with more assistance to come. Furthermore, the US said Monday it wanted to press ahead with its push to normalize ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which inflamed tensions in the Middle East. China has reasons to balance its relationships on both sides of the conflict, with Beijing’s bilateral trade with Israel totaling some $22.
China’s decision to skip naming Hamas, which is backed by Tehran, as the aggressor in its response to the weekend’s violence sent a message to “Iran and other authoritarian regimes in the region that China recognizes their regional interests,” said Mercy Kuo, a geopolitical risk adviser at Pamir, a global risk consultancy in metro Washington DC.
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