It is feasible for China to continue playing an important role in mediating Middle East conflicts. In fact, it already has. In the case of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, however, mediation is hardly the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even before Beijing successfully managed<\/a> to achieve reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran last April, Chinese diplomacy has shown exceptional maturity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For many years, China has been perceived to be an outsider to global affairs, supposedly contending itself to economic expansion or to regional economic integration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Former US President Donald Trump forced, or rather, accelerated China\u2019s global outreach when, in 2018, he launched<\/a> an unprecedented trade war with the powerful Asian country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump\u2019s plan backfired. Not only did Washington fail to dissuade Beijing from bowing to American diktats, but it also inspired what became known as China\u2019s wolf diplomacy \u2013 a self-assertive Chinese approach to foreign policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From an American \u2013 or Western \u2013 viewpoint, the new tactic was perceived<\/a> to be hostile and aggressive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But from a Chinese perspective, the new policy was necessitated by the relentless war launched against China by successive US administrations, along with their Western allies<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Russia-Ukraine war, however, accentuated China\u2019s role in international conflicts and diplomacy. Though Beijing\u2019s \u201812-point peace proposal<\/a>\u2019 last March failed to impress the West and was superficially welcomed by Moscow, the proposal highlighted an important shift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fact that China found it necessary to develop an elaborate political position as a potential mediator conveyed that China is no longer content with playing the role of the supporting actor in international forums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n China\u2019s diplomacy was dismissed<\/a> by many, especially in Western media and politics, as a non-starter, if at all serious or even well-intentioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Merely three weeks later, the Chinese-brokered Iran-Saudi agreement<\/a> took place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Major political actors in the region, including Washington, appeared to be taken by surprise. The Chinese success story was juxtaposed<\/a> by many journalists in the Global South, to Washington\u2019s conflict-prone, dead-end diplomacy in the Middle East. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Buoyed by its success, China ventured further into new diplomatic territories, offering<\/a> to mediate between Israel and Palestine. The Palestinians welcomed<\/a> a Chinese role; the Israelis were disinterested<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Chinese government is aware of the near impossibility of engaging both Palestinians and Israelis in genuine peace talks. Though Palestinians are desperate to escape or, at least, balance out Washington\u2019s hegemony, it is not in Israel\u2019s interest to abandon its greatest political benefactor, financier and military backer \u2013 the United States. Though China and Israel have developed<\/a> relatively strong economic and, for China, strategic ties, in recent years, Beijing\u2019s geopolitical worth for Tel Aviv is simply incomparable to that of Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It would also make little sense for Tel Aviv to grant Beijing any political leverage at a time of geopolitical transitions, especially because China has historically supported the Palestinian people\u2019s struggle for freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indeed, for decades, China served<\/a> as a vanguard for the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and, later, the State of Palestine at the United Nations, insisting on the respect and implementation of international laws relevant to ending the Israeli occupation of Palestine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Unsurprisingly, China recognised<\/a> the PLO\u2019s political status in 1965 and the State of Palestine in 1988. Now, China is pushing for full Palestinian membership in the international body. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Chinese position was fundamental to Beijing\u2019s strategic alliances in the Global South in previous decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The economic growth of China and its integration into a Western-centric economic system, starting<\/a> in 1978, progressively weakened China\u2019s trade and political relevance in the Global South.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This process, however, is being reversed, not only because of Washington\u2019s trade war, and the hesitance<\/a> of Western countries to join Beijing\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative, but because of the US-led Western sanctions on Moscow. The Western economic war on Russia is an urgent reminder to China that it cannot fully rely on Western markets and financial systems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n China\u2019s slow drift from a Western-centric economic system is being coupled with a whole new approach to foreign policy \u2013 \u2018wolf diplomacy\u2019 in the West, and a gentler, kinder approach in the Global South. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Even before former Foreign Minister of China, Qin Gang phoned<\/a> his Palestinian and Israeli counterparts, offering mediation, China had already introduced<\/a> a peace initiative known as the four-point proposal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The proposal highlighted China\u2019s readiness to move past its role as a trade partner into that of a political actor on the global stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For China, this was not only a matter of prestige, as various Muslim and Arab countries, along with Israel, are critical parties in the ambitious BRI project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In recent months, however, China\u2019s interest in being a peace mediator increased exponentially, especially amid the near total absence of Washington, the self-proclaimed \u2018honest peace broker<\/a>.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n China has also shown<\/a> a willingness to mediate between rival Palestinian groups. That, too, ushers in an evolution in China\u2019s approach to Palestinian politics. However, it will not be easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Palestinian Authority\u2019s (PA) financial well-being \u2013 and political future \u2013 is largely linked to Washington and other Western capitals. Though Palestinian officials, the like of Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki, are threatening<\/a> to \u201cturn to China\u201d due to the PA\u2019s \u201cdisappointment\u201d in Washington, such a shift will not be permitted, if not by Washington, then by Tel Aviv itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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