Opinion | Israel-Gaza war: China’s diplomacy shows its growing influence in Middle East

China’s position on the Israel-Palestine conflict has defied expectations, refusing to explicitly condemn Hamas while allowing open criticism of Israel. How will its push for a ceasefire affect its standing in the region?

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Published: 5:30am, 18 Oct 2023

The Israeli war in Palestine against Hamas has been going on for more than a week, with casualties racking up on both sides. Despite Israel indiscriminately bombing targets across Gaza, Western nations like the US and UK have largely supported Israel, barring a few calls for restraint.

It is interesting to note that China has not taken a similar stance to the US and in fact gone on to condemn Israel’s aggression, noting that its response to Hamas’ attack was disproportionate. It is thus useful to examine China’s motivations on this issue and how it has capitalised on the opportunity to expand its own role in the Middle East.

China’s engagement in the Israel-Palestine conflict has evolved throughout the last few decades. Initially, it was quite supportive of the Palestinian cause, even arming factions of the Palestine Liberation Organisation in the 1960s. Towards the late 1970s, after the death of Mao Zedong, it changed its position on the issue, opting to take a less ideological stance.

As such, it expanded relations with Israel, including by buying weapons. Both nations also armed factions of the Afghan mujahideen in the 1980s against the Soviet Union. This was mainly to prevent a Soviet presence in Afghanistan, which China considers its backyard.

In 1992, China opened official diplomatic relations with Israel, slowly increasing trade. These ties have evolved to a point where China is now Israel’s second-largest trading partner.

Keeping this in mind, a natural conclusion to draw would be for China to support Israel in the current conflict. However, this has not been the case. While it has condemned attacks on civilians, China has refused to take up the Israeli line and condemn Hamas, instead calling for a cessation of violence.