{"id":1879,"date":"2023-11-05T10:41:37","date_gmt":"2023-11-05T10:41:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/?p=1879"},"modified":"2023-11-05T10:41:37","modified_gmt":"2023-11-05T10:41:37","slug":"israel-palestine-war-is-chinas-neutrality-helpful-or-harmful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/1879.html","title":{"rendered":"Israel-Palestine war: Is China’s ‘neutrality’ helpful or harmful?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Razan Shawamreh \/ Middle East News Eye<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s war on the Gaza Strip<\/a> and its 2.3 million Palestinians has ushered in a new era of great-power political wrangling, with China<\/a> and Russia<\/a> on one side and the US<\/a> on the other. They have wasted no time in taking shots at each other.<\/p>\n

Israel<\/a> and the US have expressed their \u201cdisappointment<\/a>\u201d with China\u2019s ambiguous position and failure to condemn Hamas. The US ambassador to China has urged<\/a> Chinese President Xi Jinping to denounce Hamas, after Washington reiterated its ironclad support for Israel.<\/p>\n

Rafi Harpaz, a diplomat in Israel\u2019s foreign ministry, also expressed \u201cdeep disappointment\u201d with China\u2019s position, noting<\/a> that the messages coming from Beijing had \u201cno clear and unambiguous condemnation of the terrible attack and heinous massacre committed by the terrorist organisation Hamas against innocent civilians and the abduction of dozens of them to Gaza\u201d.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s initial reaction to the conflict noted that<\/a> the flare-up was evidence that \u201cthe protracted standstill of the peace process cannot go on\u201d, with a foreign ministry spokesperson adding: \u201cThe fundamental way out of the conflict lies in implementing the two-state solution and establishing an independent state of Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is in line with China\u2019s long-standing posture on the Israel-Palestine<\/a> conflict, and it\u2019s highly unlikely to change now, for several reasons.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Firstly, China differs from the West in its approach to the international order. It often criticises western alliances, considering them a destabilising factor in the global system.<\/p>\n

Secondly, Palestine is not Russia, despite US President Joe Biden\u2019s attempt to equate Hamas with Russian President Vladimir Putin in asserting<\/a> that \u201cboth want to completely annihilate a neighbouring democracy\u201d. The conflicts in Ukraine<\/a> and Palestine have bolstered western alliances, while subjecting China, which aims to challenge western dominance, to a substantial test.<\/p>\n

‘Fuel to the fire’<\/h3>\n

China has refused to condemn<\/a> Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine, while accusing Washington and Nato<\/a> of being stuck in a Cold War mentality<\/a>. Beijing has also accused<\/a> Washington of \u201cadding fuel to the fire\u201d by providing military support to Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Yet, while the same anti-Russia international alliance is also backing Israel in the current Middle East conflict, China has not deployed the same rhetoric. Its only criticism thus far has been China\u2019s assertion<\/a> that it was \u201cdeeply disappointed at the US blocking\u201d a Security Council resolution condemning<\/a> all violence against civilians in the Israel-Palestine war.<\/p>\n

China’s stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict has undergone a gradual transformation, moving ever closer towards the Israeli state<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thirdly, China does not engage unilaterally or assume responsibility for resolving international conflicts. Its statements consistently emphasise supporting international efforts and encouraging a more effective role for the global community. On the Gaza war, Beijing has urged<\/a> the international community \u201cto act with greater urgency, step up input into the Palestinian question… and find a way to bring about enduring peace\u201d, while also emphasising<\/a> the UN\u2019s obligation to act.<\/p>\n

Fourthly, China\u2019s rhetoric of \u201cneutrality\u201d involves equally condemning both sides. \u201cViolence for violence will only lead to a vicious cycle,\u201d the foreign ministry noted<\/a> of the Gaza war. \u201cWhat\u2019s most imperative is to stop fighting and end hostilities immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning has condemned<\/a> any acts that harm civilians or \u201cmoves that escalate the conflict and destabilise the region\u201d.\u00a0China did not explicitly name Hamas in this condemnation, nor did it take a stance on who was responsible for the al-Ahli hospital massacre<\/a>, noting in a statement<\/a> that China \u201cstrongly condemns the attack on the hospital in Gaza, which has caused massive casualties\u201d, while calling \u201cfor an immediate ceasefire and cessation of hostilities\u201d.<\/p>\n

Serious consequences<\/h3>\n

This \u201cneutrality\u201d in condemnation has serious consequences for Palestinians. Instead of offering support, it effectively undermines their position by suggesting an equivalence between the aggressive actions by Palestinian fighters and the disproportionate response by the Israeli army.<\/p>\n

In this context, China must remember Dante\u2019s eloquent warning that \u201cthe darkest places of hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/a><\/p>\n
Israel-Palestine war: The West\u2019s denial of Palestinian history and humanity is enabling genocide<\/div>\n

Read More \u00bb<\/a><\/div>\n

The final consideration is what could be termed as China\u2019s biased impartiality in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. While China heralds its neutrality in the conflict, the facts on the ground suggest Chinese support for Israel.<\/p>\n

China has consistently deviated from international norms on the conflict\u2019s pivotal issues, including through its support of the of Israel; its investments<\/a> in Israeli settlements and reinforcement of economic security for settlers in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem; and its promotion of Arab normalisation with Israel<\/a>, despite the adverse impacts on the Palestinian population.<\/p>\n

For decades, China\u2019s stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict has undergone a gradual transformation, moving ever closer towards the Israeli state. Its current position indicates that it will not revisit the era of Mao Zedong, who once described<\/a> Israel as a \u201cbase of imperialism\u201d in China. While China should not revert to this historical stance, at a minimum it should stop reinforcing the Zionist narrative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Razan Shawamreh \/ Middle East News Eye Israel\u2019s war on the Gaza Strip and its 2.3 million Palestinians has ushered in a new era of great-power political wrangling, with China and Russia on one side and the US on the other. They have wasted no time in taking shots at each other. Israel and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1879","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-latest-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1879"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1882,"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1879\/revisions\/1882"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raqeeb.ps\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}