Is China the next world peacemaker? - opinion

China’s foreign minister told his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts last week that Beijing is ready to help facilitate peace talks. The separate phone calls between Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Israeli and Palestinian senior diplomats fall amid recent moves by Beijing to position itself as a regional mediator.

 

Just last month, China successfully brokered a Saudi-Iranian rapprochement and indicated that it wishes to play peacemaker between Russia and Ukraine. These developments did not happen in a vacuum: Since Xi Jinping rose to power in 2012, China has stepped up its global conflict mediation efforts. Several interests are driving this trend.

 

On the material front, securing its economic interests, protecting its citizens abroad and ensuring its national security are critical factors influencing where and to what extent Beijing chooses to involve itself in any given conflict…

China ramps up its efforts to shape a multipolar world

China’s recent achievement in brokering rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran has captivated the attention of pundits and policymakers worldwide. Now, China has indicated that it wishes to act as peacemaker between Russia and Ukraine.

These developments reflect a trend that has seen a stark rise in China’s global conflict mediation efforts since Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 assumed power in 2012, raising a pivotal question: what motivates Beijing to take on this role of peacemaker?

The fascinating history and current state of Israel’s ties to China — Q&A with Carice Witte

Israel was the first country in the Middle East to recognize the People’s Republic of China in January 1950. China wasn’t as quick to recognize Israel. And before Israel felt comfortable reaching out to China officially, it was looking for the okay from the U.S. because it was the U.S. and Europe that gave the push to create the state of Israel in 1948. By the time [Israel’s first prime minister] Ben-Gurion was able to get feedback from the Americans, China had already signed onto the Bandung Conference agreement and joined the boycott of Israel…

Divergent perceptions of China impact geopolitics

Countries in the Middle East view China’s growing power and influence in starkly different terms from the US and many of its Western allies. These alternative strategic perceptions are likely to have a decisive impact on geopolitics in the years to come. In some ways, they already are. 

US policymakers on both sides of the political spectrum have made it clear that they view China’s growing power and influence as the No 1 threat to America’s global primacy and the liberal international order at large…

On air

On Air

SIGNAL's Policy Director Tommy Steiner on Galei Zahal

 

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