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China and the United States have adopted different attitudes towards the Palestinians and the Israelis since hostilities began in May 2021. An examination of these different approaches, reflected in the respective positions of the United States and China in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), highlights important considerations for Israel's international relations in the future, as it navigates the growing tensions between the United States and China, which are increasingly defining the international order.
In the current crisis between Palestine and Israel, China's historical narrative influences its approach. Foreign Minister Wang Yi's call for a two-state solution and an immediate end to violence is in line with China's consistent support for the Palestinian cause. Even political critics agree on that theory. China sees the Security Council as a key player in de-escalating the conflict, stressing the importance of respecting international law and UN resolutions. China's position is not merely diplomatic; it carries the weight of a nation that has faced external aggression. In the context of the Israeli-Palestinian war of 2023, China is in a unique position, due to its own historical struggles and growing importance on the world stage. China's contemporary history, characterised by a "century of humiliation" and its goal of "great rejuvenation" as a civilisation, has shaped the nation's approach to world politics. While its sympathetic history gives it a particular perspective on global power dynamics and crises such as the Middle East, China's involvement also places it at the forefront of Sino-American strategic competition. This perspective gives China an advantage as a mediator in the Middle East. While many Western nations have close ties with Israel, China's historical background allows it to engage with both sides with a degree of neutrality that resonates with the international community. Nor should we forget the relations between China and Iran.
However, China's growing involvement in the Middle East also underlines its growing importance in world politics. With its growing economic footprint, the "Belt and Road" initiative and strategic investments in the region, China is far from a passive observer in the Middle East. As it asserts itself, it becomes a more important player in mediating conflicts and shaping the future of the region. This context provides China with a unique lens through which it views global conflicts. This context gives China a unique perspective on global conflicts. Having suffered foreign intervention and occupation, China can empathise with nations struggling to assert their sovereignty. This empathy becomes the cornerstone of China's foreign policy, allowing it to mediate conflicts with a deep understanding of the impact of oppression. China's contemporary foreign policy is the subject of debate, particularly with regard to wolf-warrior diplomacy, but the enduring principles set out in Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai's Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence remain at the heart of China's foreign policy. In the case of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the international community should recognise the importance of multilateral diplomacy and cooperation.
The emphasis should be on de-escalation, a two-state solution and the principles of international law. China's involvement offers the opportunity to combine historical empathy with contemporary diplomacy to achieve a lasting resolution. Sino-American competition must not overshadow the ultimate objective of peace and stability in the region. It should recall that the interests of nations, the rights of individuals and the principles of international law must always take precedence over political rivalries. In a world full of complexity and conflicting narratives, China's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict presents both challenges and opportunities. As a nation with a historical awareness of humiliation and a desire for rejuvenation, China can bring a unique perspective to the table. Its increasingly important place in the global security order, however, requires a nuanced approach to balance its interests in the Middle East with its role as a peacemaker and mediator. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a test for Chinese diplomacy and a reminder that the path to peace is paved with empathy, diplomacy and a willingness to rise above the tumultuous tides of geopolitical rivalry.
It is important to emphasis that China and the Arab world have gone hand in hand since the Bandung conference in 1955, when China considered itself to be part of the non-aligned movement alongside the majority of Islamic countries.
What about Israel's foreign policy towards the United States and China? The United States is an essential and irreplaceable pillar of Israel's national security in terms of equipment, intelligence sharing and diplomatic protection. China seeks relationships based not on the political values of the country in question but rather on the potential for win-win economic partnerships. Furthermore, although China explicitly condemns terrorism and extremism, if one compares China's usefulness in this area to Israel with that of the United States, China's "friends of all" approach, whereby it seeks to establish relations with as many states as possible, regardless of their political leanings, means that China often ends up serving as an economic lifeline to states, such as Iran, that sympathise or even collaborate with extremist organisations with which Israel is in conflict, such as Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas.
The relatively non-strategic nature of China's relationship with Israel compared to that of the US is also illustrated by the fact that China has historically supported any resolution against Israel in the UN Security Council and other UN organisations. Once again, this can be explained by economic opportunism. There are 1.9 billion Muslims and less than 15 million Jews in the world, and Islamic countries control a considerable amount of proven oil and gas reserves. As a result, gestures such as supporting Palestine at the UN ensure that China does not compromise its access to a crucial and huge market. This is not to say that China's alignment against Israel at the UN is particularly damaging to the relationship: bilateral trade has grown from US$50 million in 1992 (when formal bilateral diplomatic ties were established) to around US$11 billion today.
Reconciliation between Iran and Saudi Arabia is very important for the Middle East. There are many conflicts in the region, but the tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia are one of its defining features. By facilitating this reconciliation, China has helped to maintain a modest degree of stability in the region. It put an end to the confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Iran in Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain. Saudi Arabia has benefited greatly from it. Saudi Arabia has every interest in reconciling with Iran because of its ambitious Vision 2030 project.
The difference between Chinese relations in the Middle East and in regions such as Latin America and Africa is that China sees the region as facing difficult—some in China would say intractable—security problems. China sees little advantage in working to solve them and little capacity to do so. Instead, China seeks to position itself behind the United States, allowing the latter to run amok. China is concentrating on two things in the region: ensuring that its competition with the United States does not degenerate into open conflict and not replacing the United States. On the contrary, China sees the Middle East as spearheading the creation of a different world, one that is more mercantilist and less committed to international law and multilateralism. The more international relations revolve around bilateral relations between states, the better it is for China, which is the stronger party in all its bilateral relations, except with the United States.
The writer is a Geneva-based private banking compliance security expert, columnist and poet.
Messenger/Fameema
