China was much slower than the other major powers to respond to the October 7 terrorist attack by the Islamic militant group Hamas against civilian populations in southern Israel.
The following week, when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi laid out Beijing’s position on the conflict, many in Israel, the U.S., and European countries were unhappy that he did not specifically condemn Hamas by name and re-stated Beijing’s longstanding position that calls for the creation of an independent Palestinian state — aka “the two-state solution.”
Critics felt China’s response was tone deaf in light of the horrors that transpired in southern Israel but it turns out that Beijing’s position was fully aligned with that of the Arab world and the overwhelming majority of Global South countries.
Early on in the conflict, Fan Hongda, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University and widely regarded as one of China’s foremost scholars on the region, expressed bewilderment as to why there was so much criticism of China’s response.
Fan then later expanded on his social media posts with an article on the Asia-Pacific news site The Diplomat, where he laid out the context for China’s position and identified the points of friction with Israel, in particular:
- DIVERGENT ISRAEL-CHINA OBJECTIVES: “Israel emphasizes the current outbreak of this specific conflict, while China emphasizes the fundamental path to resolve the question of Palestine. The two have different focuses.”
- THE TWO-STATE DILEMMA: “The two-state solution to the question of Palestine is advocated by the United Nations and most countries in the world. Even Western powers like the United States and the United Kingdom support this. It is not advocated by China alone. However, because this solution requires Israel to return a large area of occupied land to the Palestinians, there are many people in Israel who oppose the two-state solution.”
- THE ROLE OF U.S.-CHINA COMPETITION: “Great power competition is thus inevitably coloring perceptions after the outbreak of the Gaza-Israel conflict, which may have an important impact on the Middle East.”
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? Professor Fan’s genuine confusion as to why Israeli and Western stakeholders were unhappy with China’s response to the crisis reveals the wide knowledge gaps that exist within large swathes of Chinese academia.
Just as there is a negative narrative about China that’s prevalent in the Western discourse, the same is true in China about the West (which Israel is seen as a part of) and often leads to poorly-informed analysis.
SUGGESTED READING:
- The Diplomat: China’s Attitude Toward the Israel-Gaza War by Fan Hongda
- Foreign Policy: The Israel-Hamas War Is Testing China’s Diplomatic Strategy bu Lili Pike
