The risk that the conflict between Hamama and Israel will spill over, becoming a major regional war in the Middle East, worries Beijing, which has called for a ceasefire. Can Chinese diplomacy make a real effort to end the conflict?
While USA and other Western countries have adopted an unequivocally pro-Israel stanceChina’s growing influence in the Middle East and its close ties to both sides of the conflict raise important questions regarding how it views its response to the crisis.
China’s first reaction to the escalation of the conflict took place on October 8, a day following the Hamas attack on southern Israel that left hundreds dead. At a press conference, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson urged the parties to «keep calmto exercise restraint and immediately cease hostilities to protect civilians and prevent further deterioration of the situation.
All subsequent statements by Chinese officials stressed the need for a ceasefire and the creation of an independent Palestinian state as a solution to the conflict. On October 15, the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wang Yiin a telephone conversation with his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saudasked all parties to sit at the negotiating table and refrain from carrying out actions that would aggravate the situation.
The head of Chinese diplomacy also denounced that “Israel’s actions have gone beyond self-defense“, so he urged the Hebrew country to “heed the call of the international community to stop collectively punishing the inhabitants of Gaza.” After pointing out the need to make the solution to the problems a reality, two statesWang Yi stressed that the historical injustice once morest Palestine, which has lasted for more than half a century, cannot continue.
Historically, China’s stance on the Palestinian issue has been ideological, but in recent years Beijing has begun to seek ways to establish favorable relations with both Israel and the Arab worldwhich makes the debate relevant regarding whether Beijing can effectively mediate the conflict.
From ideology to pragmatism
The evolution of Chinese opinions and approaches to the Palestinian question can be divided into three stages.
The first extends from the creation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, with Mao Zedong, until the transition to Deng Xiaoping in the seventies. Mao’s foreign policy stood out for its pronounced anti-colonial character. During this period, Beijing maintained good relations with left-wing Arab regimes, such as Algeria, South Yemen, Syria, Egypt and Iraq. And despite Israel’s attempt to establish relations with China in 1950, Beijing refused.
During the visit of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to Beijing, Mao declared: “Israel and Taiwan are the bases of imperialism in Asia. You are the main door to this great continent; we are the back door. They created Israel for you and Formosa for us. The West does not really love us and we must understand this fact. The Arab war once morest the West is a war once morest Israel. That same year, the PLO opened a diplomatic mission in China, which became an embassy in 1974. In addition, China was one of the main arms suppliers to Palestine between 1960 and 1970.
In the second period, from the late 1970s to the late 1980s, China’s relationship with Israel entered a thawing phase. After the death of Mao Zedong, Chinese foreign policy acquired Deng Xiaoping a more pragmatic character, giving priority to the economic development of the country, at the service of which foreign policy was placed.
This led to the beginning of commercial relations with Israel in matters such as solar energy and agricultural technologyas well as the opening of embassies in 1992. Despite these deep economic relations, China opposed Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory y syria outside the borders recognized by the United Nations. At the same time, China began to gradually stop supporting the Palestinian armed struggle and promote a negotiated solution to the conflict. In this way, he prioritized regional stability at the expense of resolving the difficult situation of the Palestinians, which was reflected in his support for the Camp David peace agreement between Israel and Egypt in 1978.
In the third period, from the early 1990s to the present day, China has sought maintain good relations with both parties. Unlike Israel, the United States and some other Western countries, China has refused to designate Hamas and Hezbollah, which it considers legitimate representatives of segments of the population of Palestine and Lebanon, respectively, as terrorist organizations. China has maintained its support for a negotiated solution, despite the fact that there is a significant power disparity between both parties. China’s position has also coincided with significant changes, both in the international environment and in its own status, since, from the very beginning of the 21st century, the Asian giant has become a great power and the second world economy.
¿Who will take you the Belt and Road ?
The Middle East region is central to the Belt and Road Initiative, a Chinese-led infrastructure project that aims to cover the entire planet and will face serious challenges if wars continue. The Middle East is also an important source of economic activity for China: if in 2000 it exported almost 7.7 billion dollars to the Middle East and North Africa and imported regarding 10.2 billion, in 2021, These figures increasedup to 169,300 and 194,900 million, respectively.
Ultimately, What China wants most in the Middle East is stabilitywhich is why Beijing played a mediating role eight months ago in the normalization of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Earlier this year, China also offered to mediate between Israelis and Palestinians. Beijing’s neutrality allows it to position itself as an actor willing to engage in dialogue with both partiesbeing able to gain the support of those who criticize Netanyahu, as well as those who do not sympathize with Hamas.
China sent a special emissary, Zhai Jun, to promote ceasefire and access for humanitarian aid to the territory of the conflict. He has visited Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and the UAE. However, the gesture is more aimed at stabilizing Beijing’s bilateral relations with the Arab world than at launching serious mediation measures.
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