Amid the current Middle East crisis, China has three objectives: Beijing seeks a semblance of peace in the Middle East, hopes for a halt to the Israel-Hamas conflict and wants to project an image of a responsible great power. But the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) almost certainly won’t make any meaningful contribution toward Middle East peace, nor is it likely to take serious steps to facilitate an agreement to suspend hostilities in Gaza. Yet, amid not delivering on objectives one and two, the CCP is well postured to advance its third objective of making itself look good in the eyes of three audiences: the Chinese people, the Arab street and the Global South.
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At the just-concluded conclave of the Group of Seven in Hiroshima, the world’s wealthiest democracies said they want to de-risk, not decouple, from China. Yet Beijing sees them hobbling its strategic industries and ramping up their defence budgets.