China hosts the foreign ministers of Arab states and other Muslim nations in Beijing. People want to talk about solutions to the Gaza war. Israel continues to be left out of China’s plans.
Beijing – China will host several foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries on Monday and Tuesday (November 20 and 21). The Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that the meeting would discuss the solution to the Gaza war between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas. Beijing is thus continuing to position itself as a mediator in the Gaza war – but at the same time is showing its closeness to the Arab-Islamic side of the conflict. Initially, nothing was known about contacts between Chinese mediators and Israel.
According to the Foreign Office, foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Indonesia and Palestine as well as representatives of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation are expected in Beijing. The delegation then wants to travel to the capitals of the other permanent members of the UN Security Council (USA, Russia, Great Britain and France). “Visiting China first sends a clear signal to the USA,” says Moritz Rudolf from the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale University. It shows the close relations between the Arab world and China, said Rudolf on X (formerly Twitter). The states in question see China on their side.
Iran is probably not part of the delegation
Initial statements from the group do not sound like a neutral mediation mission. “The aim of the delegation is to expose Israel’s barbaric crimes against the Palestinian civilian population and the repeated attacks on civilian facilities, especially hospitals and places of worship,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said, according to the newspaper Jordan Times.
After all, as far as we know, Iran’s foreign minister is not part of the group. Iran openly supports Hamas and the anti-Israel Lebanese Hezbollah militia. However, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian made it clear in an interview a few days ago that Tehran did not want the war to expand like the British one Financial Times reported. This was communicated to the USA via confidential channels. At the same time, Iran has warned Washington that a regional conflict could be unavoidable if Israeli attacks on Gaza continue.
China wants to act as a mediator despite pro-Palestinian neutrality
China had already announced at the end of October that it would mediate in the Middle East war together with Arab states. Special envoy Zhai Jun is also traveling in the region. By the weekend he had, according to information from the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post However, no leading politicians from Israel or Hamas have yet been met.
In general, Beijing’s mediation efforts have become quiet. After Hamas’ attacks on Israel, China positioned itself too one-sidedly on the side of the Palestinians. China also angered Israel with apathetic calls for both sides to refrain from violence. At the UN Security Council, UN Ambassador Zhang Jun called for a ceasefire and protection for the civilian population in Gaza.
China traditionally sides with Palestine
Like many other countries in the Global South, China has traditionally been more on the side of the Palestinians. This feeling is particularly strong among Arabs, even though Egypt and Jordan have now made peace with Israel. China has long called for a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.
However, Beijing is very inexperienced in dealing with complex conflicts like this. Traditionally, China does not play a major security policy role in the region, but maintains good relations with practically all states – even if they are enemies of one another. Therefore, in April, Beijing managed to mediate the rapprochement between the rival regional powers Saudi Arabia and Iran. Buoyed by this coup, China later that month offered Israel and the Palestinians Chinese mediation in their decades-long conflict. But China has obviously gone one step further, as its weak response to the current crisis shows.
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