Eyes of the world are once again turned to China. Another war interferes with Xi's interests
China has offered assistance in mediations related to the conflict in the Middle East, which intensified after Hamas' Saturday attack on Israel. Beijing certainly is concerned that the war does not spill over into the region, in part due to Chinese interests. It's about oil.
12:24 PM EDT, October 13, 2023
On Saturday (October 7th), Hamas, referred to as the Palestinian "resistance movement," carried out a bloody attack on Israel, which responded with an occupation and bombing of the Gaza Strip. The victims on both sides of the conflict are already being counted in the thousands.
China's idea for the Israeli-Palestinian war
China has so far tried to keep its distance from the tense situation in the Middle East. However, on Thursday (October 12th) the situation in Israel, as well as in the Gaza Strip, was commented on by the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The head of diplomacy stated that China is opposed to "actions" targeted at civilians and condemns acts that violate international law.
On the other hand, China's special envoy to the Middle East, Zhai Jun - in a conversation with Osama Khedre, the head of the Palestinian affairs department at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs - stated that Beijing is ready to cooperate with Cairo to work out a ceasefire in the war of Israel with Hamas.
The crux of the returning Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the delay in finding a just solution to the Palestine issue, and a fundamental solution is implementing a two-state solution - Zhai assessed.
China has another crisis to avert again
Washington had grievances with Beijing about distancing itself from Hamas' attack on Israel. "The New York Times" in its analysis indicates that the destabilization of the Middle East is not in China's interest. Why?
The Middle Kingdom, as noted by "NYT", is the largest importer of oil from Saudi Arabia and Iran. Importantly, in the early 90s, China was self-sufficient when it came to this commodity. At this moment, 72 percent of oil consumption depends on imports.
- China has become a major stakeholder in the Middle East, whether they like it or not, and they must play a role in stabilizing the region in the coming years - said Kevin Tu, a Beijing energy consultant, quoted by "NYT".
It is worth mentioning that, in the context of the war in Ukraine, experts anticipate that China, along with the USA, will need to persuade the battling parties to commence negotiations. Also, following Vladimir Putin's regime's attack on the neighboring country, it was indicated that the progression of the situation conflicts with the pursuit of the Chinese economy after the American one.
