China as a Conflict Mediator: Interests, Influence, and Implications for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

This applied research inquiry sets out to shed light on the interests driving China’s global conflict mediation efforts as well as the principles and practices employed by Beijing to resolve violent conflicts. The study serves to create a framework to interpret China’s mediation dynamics and strategic priorities, generating actionable knowledge for Israeli policymakers that contextualizes Beijing’s proposal to mediate the IsraeliPalestinian conflict within its global strategy. The present inquiry evaluates China’s mediating role in the Afghan civil war, Afghanistan-Pakistan relations, DPRK-US nuclear talks, the Democratic Republic of Congo civil war, Iran nuclear talks, Myanmar civil war, Nepali government mediation, the Darfur crisis, the conflict in South Sudan, Yemeni civil war, and Zimbabwe regime change. The paper then examines whether and how the interests, principles, and practices identified apply to the case of Israel-Palestine.