On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, China’s senior diplomat and foreign minister, Wang Yi, met with his Lebanese counterpart on Monday. Wang expressed firm support for Lebanon’s sovereignty, security, and national dignity, emphasizing that China has always stood by justice and will continue to support its “Arab brothers.” Wang also noted China’s attention to regional developments and condemned the “indiscriminate attacks on civilians,” referencing Israel’s explosions in Lebanon of Hezbollah’s communication equipment.
Wang further condemned Israel’s large-scale air attack on Lebanon, calling it a “violation of the basic norms of international relations.” At the same time, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that China is “highly shocked by the large number of casualties,” and condemned any action harming innocent citizens, urging all parties to act immediately to calm the situation. The two Chinese speakers neither mentioned Hezbollah nor the incessant rocket fire toward Israel.
It’s easy to get angry at China’s responses and to see them as anti-Israeli propaganda However, it is important to consider China’s perspective, even if we don’t agree with it. The Chinese interests in the Middle East are complex and include three main axes:
1. China requires a stable Middle East to maintain the flow of trade to and from China. While purely an economic interest, China has shown that it is willing to sacrifice a certain extent of this interest for its other strategic goals.
2. China views the Middle East as a battleground for the superpowers: China wants to lure the United States into the regional conflict and remove it from East Asia, seeing conflict in the Middle East as an opportunity to present the United States as two-faced and warmongering, compared to the peace-loving China.
3. China aims to position itself as an alternative to the countries of the region, either by promoting its Global Security Initiative (GSI), or through its new “brokerage” operations.
China damaged this last interest in the past year, as it showed that it was unable or unwilling to protect its economic interests in the region. Therefore, this requires “fixing” and returning China to the center stage, at least among the Arab public. China’s strong rhetoric is part of an effort to restore its standing, while all the “relevant factors” are called to action.
On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, China’s senior diplomat and foreign minister, Wang Yi, met with his Lebanese counterpart on Monday. Wang expressed firm support for Lebanon’s sovereignty, security, and national dignity, emphasizing that China has always stood by justice and will continue to support its “Arab brothers.” Wang also noted China’s attention to regional developments and condemned the “indiscriminate attacks on civilians,” referencing Israel’s explosions in Lebanon of Hezbollah’s communication equipment.
Wang further condemned Israel’s large-scale air attack on Lebanon, calling it a “violation of the basic norms of international relations.” At the same time, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that China is “highly shocked by the large number of casualties,” and condemned any action harming innocent citizens, urging all parties to act immediately to calm the situation. The two Chinese speakers neither mentioned Hezbollah nor the incessant rocket fire toward Israel.
It’s easy to get angry at China’s responses and to see them as anti-Israeli propaganda However, it is important to consider China’s perspective, even if we don’t agree with it. The Chinese interests in the Middle East are complex and include three main axes:
1. China requires a stable Middle East to maintain the flow of trade to and from China. While purely an economic interest, China has shown that it is willing to sacrifice a certain extent of this interest for its other strategic goals.
2. China views the Middle East as a battleground for the superpowers: China wants to lure the United States into the regional conflict and remove it from East Asia, seeing conflict in the Middle East as an opportunity to present the United States as two-faced and warmongering, compared to the peace-loving China.
3. China aims to position itself as an alternative to the countries of the region, either by promoting its Global Security Initiative (GSI), or through its new “brokerage” operations.
China damaged this last interest in the past year, as it showed that it was unable or unwilling to protect its economic interests in the region. Therefore, this requires “fixing” and returning China to the center stage, at least among the Arab public. China’s strong rhetoric is part of an effort to restore its standing, while all the “relevant factors” are called to action.