Cover Photo Credit: Illustration for The China Project by Derek Zheng

The Israel-Hamas war has revealed a deep-seated cognitive dissonance emanating from Beijing’s assumptions about and approach toward the Middle East.

China has sought to portray itself as a neutral party in the conflict, an apparent attempt to position itself as a peacemaker. However, Beijing has refused to condemn Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel or the role played by Iran in executing these attacks. Instead, Chinese officials, state-controlled media outlets, and social media platforms blame Israel and the U.S. for the war.

Read the full China Project article here