In recent years, the Middle East has been the crown jewel of the Chinese diplomatic front, where in April 2023, China was able to facilitate a reproach between Iran and Saudi Arabia, leading to the states reestablishing ties after 7 years. This has by far been the biggest achievement in China’s Diplomatic endeavor.
From a similar lens, China in July facilitated talks between 14 different Palestinian factions at the Beijing Summit, where the factions expressed their willingness to form an interim government that would be considered an integral part of the Palestinian state’s representation in the international forum.
The meeting was mainly to reach an agreement between Hamas and Fatah including 12 other factions, which ended on a positive note, laying down the framework for a positive future. The summit pillared on the agreement of 4 propositions, which were the establishment of an interim National Unity Government, the inception of a unified Palestinian leadership in light of the future elections, the free and fair elections of the Palestinian National Council, and ultimately a general declaration of unity amid the ongoing Israeli bombardment.
Historically, the Red Star has always been at the forefront of supporting its Arab allies in key instances such as the Cold War, and the Arab-Israeli War of 1967. China has consistently voted against Israel in the UN in favor of its Arab allies, which is a manifestation of their stance. Moreover, China's recognition of the state of Israel was significantly late and took place in 1992, when it aimed to foster trade and cooperation through the Middle East.
Keeping the same course, China aims to bridge the conflict faultlines in the Israel-Palestine conflict, starting from Palestine, where it has the Beijing Summit was mainly to bridge the differences between Hamas and the Fatah government majorly and get the other Palestinian parties on the same page. A summit that was postponed twice consecutively, has finally found a breakthrough.
China’s cooperative notion is not new, because, over the past 2 decades, China has been eager to build closer relations with Middle Eastern organizations, including the China-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in 2010, and even earlier than that, China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) in 2004. This involvement of Beijing in the Middle East is an exposition of its Arab Paper Policy, which has laid down the framework of its strategy.
The Zhongguo, by executing the Palestinian summit intends to lay down its identity around the globe as a peacemaker, where it wants to strategize its influence in the Middle Eastern region and exist as an opposing force to US-backed countries such as Israel. Similarly, by facilitating this summit, China asserts itself as a crucial player for peace and stability in the Middle Eastern region.
However, there is always more to it. What has invested China so much in the prolonged conflict of the Middle East where it isn’t relevant by far?
This hosting of the Palestinian Summit can also be closely related to China’s economic interests, particularly in its ambitious conquest for the Belt Road Initiative.
For now, China has started small, aiming to unite the Palestinian factions, to resolve the Palestinian internal differences, so that a two-state solution to the Palestinian conflict can be envisaged in the bigger picture, and the Palestinian state gets a stronger, better, and inclusive representation on international forums, keeping in the view the This stability opens up new trade opportunities and more predictable investments in the area for China, keeping in view that for the worst period, the Palestinian traders utilized the colonizer’s Haifa and Ashdod ports majorly for the import and export of goods.
A notion that can be presumed is that Beijing is simply looking forward to protecting its economic interests in the Middle East, especially concerning its tonnes of economic investments in the region and the BRI. This has become an integral tool of their foreign policy, where the Middle East holds immense significance for the maritime element of BRI.
In an investment Report Published by the BRI in 2021, the majority of the investments targeted the Middle East and North African region, with it increasing by 22% later in 2022 after the Arab nations increased their cooperation with China.
Taking all of these facts into account, China’s slow and gradual intervention in one of the most prolonged conflicts in the world raises two sentiments. A sentiment of insecurity for the West particularly Washington, and a sentiment of peace and security for the Muslim nations supporting the Palestinian cause.
As throughout the past years, China has been able to keep its rise in obscurity, its slow and gradual intervention in matters like these shapes the diplomatic battleground towards a standoff with Washington.
The only question is, what is Uncle Sam’s strategy?
The Beijing Summit was just a starter for Chinese intervention in the Palestinian Conflict.
We should expect more soon.
