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Time Magazine
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Time Magazine
‘If Middle East Is Unstable, World Will Not Be at Peace': How China Views the Israel-Iran War
Iran's friends don't like the war decimating Tehran, but they're not ready to join the fight against Israel and potentially the U.S. Instead, Russia and now China have urged deescalation, emphasizing the dangerous consequences the escalating conflict could have on the whole world. 'If the Middle East is unstable, the world will not be at peace,' Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday. 'If the conflict escalates further, not only will the conflicting parties suffer greater losses, but regional countries will also suffer greatly.' 'The warring parties, especially Israel, should cease fire as soon as possible to prevent a cycle of escalation and resolutely avoid the spillover of the war,' Xi added. Xi's comments came in a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which both leaders called for a ceasefire, according to a readout by China's foreign ministry. Earlier this week, Russia warned that Israel's attacks have brought the world 'millimeters' from nuclear calamity, and Putin urged Trump against attacking Iran, as the President is mulling direct U.S. military engagement in the war that has already killed hundreds in Iran and dozens in Israel. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Putin and Xi 'strongly condemn Israel's actions, which violate the U.N. Charter and other norms of international law.' Ushakov added that Xi expressed support for Putin's suggestion to mediate the conflict, an offer Trump said he has rejected. China, like Russia, has also positioned itself as a potential peacebroker, though experts say it's unlikely Israel would accept Beijing as a neutral conciliator, given its past criticisms of Israel and ties with Iran. Here's what to know about how China has responded so far to the conflict and what it may see is at stake. Rhetorical but not material support 'Iran doesn't need communiqués or declarations, but concrete help, like anti-aircraft systems or fighter jets,' Andrea Ghiselli, a Chinese foreign policy expert at the University of Exeter, told France 24. But communiqués and declarations are all China is likely to offer, experts tell TIME. William Figueroa, an assistant professor of international relations at the University of Groningen, tells TIME that China's lack of military support should not come as a surprise. China has historically followed a policy of non-interference, focusing more on domestic issues while aiming to avoid entanglement in protracted foreign conflicts. Earlier this year, China similarly called on both India and Pakistan, the latter being an ' ironclad friend ' of China, to show restraint. And while it has been accused of providing ' very substantial ' support to Russia in its war against Ukraine, China has maintained that it doesn't provide weapons or troops to its neighbor. (Reports suggest, however, that its material support has included lethal systems.) White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that the White House doesn't see 'any signs' of China providing military support to Iran 'at this moment in time.' Instead, China has offered words. Beijing has been 'harshly critical' of Israel, says Figueroa. In separate calls with his Iranian and Israeli counterparts over the past weekend, after Israel launched an attack on Friday against Iran, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed that China 'explicitly condemns Israel's violation of Iran's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.' It has also publicly advised the U.S. against greater involvement in the conflict. 'The heating up of the Middle East region serves no one's interests,' Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Tuesday. 'To fan up the flames, use threats and exert pressure does not help deescalate the situation and will only aggravate tensions and enlarge the conflict.' 'The international community, especially influential major countries, should uphold a fair position and a responsible attitude to create the necessary conditions for promoting a ceasefire and returning to dialogue and negotiation so as to prevent the regional situation from sliding into the abyss and triggering a greater disaster,' a Chinese state-media editorial declared on Thursday. China's diplomatic response reflects its priority to 'lower the temperature,' says Figueroa, particularly in tensions with the U.S. Diplomatic limitations China has sought to deepen its investments and influence in the Middle East over the years, which has raised the expectations of its regional diplomacy to 'sky high' levels, says Figueroa. But while Beijing touted brokering a historic truce between Saudi Arabia and Iran in 2023, the task before it now is much taller. Wang, the Chinese foreign minister, said China is 'ready to play a constructive role' in resolving the conflict, according to foreign ministry readouts of his calls with both Iran and Israel, but unlike with Saudi Arabia and Iran, Figueroa says, Israel has expressed no interest in negotiating a resolution. And even if Israel was interested in coming to the table, China is unlikely to be seen as a neutral arbiter given its ties with Iran, criticisms of Israel including over Gaza, and ongoing global power competition with the U.S., Israel's biggest ally. China has developed strong economic ties with Iran over the years, becoming Iran's largest trading partner and export market, especially for oil—a critical lifeline for Iran as the U.S. has placed severe economic sanctions on the country. Iran joined BRICS, the intergovernmental group China has viewed as an alternative collective of emerging powers to the Western-oriented G7, in 2024; joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a Beijing-backed security group, in 2023; and the two countries signed a 25-year cooperative agreement in 2021. While China has also maintained an economic relationship with Israel—China is Israel's second-biggest trading partner and the two countries have had an 'innovative comprehensive partnership' since 2017—Figueroa says it's 'not close enough to have a serious influence over Israel's actions.' When asked about the possibility of China acting as a mediator, Israel's Ambassador to Beijing Eli Belotserkovsky told the South China Morning Post on Wednesday, 'at this stage, we are concentrating on the military campaign. This is our main concern at the moment, and we need to see how things will develop.' Still, he added that Israel would 'continue talking to China as [part of] an ongoing process.' Failure to help bring peace to the Middle East could seriously dampen China's recent efforts to portray itself as an effective global peacebroker, especially after Ukraine already rejected a peace plan Beijing had proposed in 2023. And if Iran's regime falls, Marc Lanteigne, an associate professor of political science at the Arctic University of Norway, told France 24, the China-mediated truce with Saudi Arabia would also risk 'going up in smoke.' 'It is hard to predict how the conflict itself might impact [China's diplomatic] efforts,' Figueroa says. 'A wider conflict would undoubtedly complicate Chinese diplomatic efforts, which largely rest on their ability to provide economic development.' Economic concerns While the Iran-China trade balance is largely skewed in China's favor— around a third of Iranian trade is with China, but less than 1% of Chinese trade is with Iran —China is heavily dependent on the Middle East's oil. 'China is by far the largest importer of Iranian oil,' according to a statement in March by the U.S. State Department, which added: 'The Iranian regime uses the revenue it generates from these sales to finance attacks on U.S. allies, support terrorism around the world, and pursue other destabilizing actions.' Sara Haghdoosti, executive director of public education and advocacy coalition Win Without War, tells TIME that China 'has a vested interest in seeing the conflict end before Israel strikes more of Iran's oil infrastructure.' But China is less dependent on Iran itself than on access to the region's reserves. 'The Islamic Republic is a replaceable energy partner,' according to a Bloomberg analysis. For global oil markets too, changes to Iran's supply alone are unlikely to cause significant price disruptions. 'Even in the unlikely event that all Iranian exports are lost, they could be replaced by spare capacity from OPEC+ producers,' assessed credit agency Fitch Ratings earlier this week. Around 20% of the world's oil trade, however, passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has threatened to close in retaliation if the U.S. joins the war. 'If the United States officially and operationally enters the war in support of the Zionists, it is the legitimate right of Iran in view of pressuring the U.S. and Western countries to disrupt their oil trade's ease of transit,' said Iranian lawmaker Ali Yazdikhah on Thursday, according to state-sponsored Iranian news agency Mehr News. Doing so would also impact China, for which more than 40% of crude oil imports come from the Middle East. The conflict's 'greatest impact on China could be on energy imports and supply chain security,' Sun Degang, director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Fudan University, told the South China Morning Post. 'While Beijing will continue to condemn the conflict, it will also seek to balance ties with Israel and the Gulf states and promote stable energy flows,' according to Bloomberg's analysts, especially as surging commodity prices would exacerbate domestic economic growth challenges already hampered by the trade war with the U.S. and an ongoing real estate crisis. In response to a question about the potential interruption of Iranian oil supplies to China, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun reiterated on Tuesday the need to 'ease tensions as soon as possible' in order to 'prevent the region from spiraling into greater turmoil.' A contained conflict could be good for China 'If a wider conflict breaks out,' Figueroa says, 'the impact on China's economic projects and investments in the region would be significant.' Foreign policy analyst Wesley Alexander Hill noted in a Forbes op-ed that an escalated conflict could force China into a bind between taking 'decisive action' to defend Iran, which might alienate Saudi Arabia, or doing nothing militarily and letting Israeli and potentially U.S. attacks 'continue to degrade Iranian export capacity,' which would leave other regional partners with a 'dim view [of] what Chinese commitment under pressure looks like.' Still, some analysts have suggested that China—as well as Russia—may be content for now to sit back and let things play out, with their higher priorities clearly elsewhere. According to Bloomberg Economics analyst Alex Kokcharov, a contained conflict in the Middle East could 'distract Washington from strategic competition with China.' Added Bloomberg's bureau chief in China, Allen Wan, in a newsletter Friday: 'Should the U.S. once again get tangled up in a war in the Middle East, that'd probably suit China just fine. Beijing and the [People's Liberation Army] would appreciate the chance to squeeze Taiwan tighter.' 'At very least, both powers [Russia and China] are content to watch the U.S. further squander goodwill with gulf Arab partners by backing another destabilizing conflict in the region,' Haghdoosti, the Win Without War executive director, tells TIME. And they, she adds, are likely 'shedding no tears that the U.S. military is currently burning through stocks of difficult-to-replenish missile defense interceptors to shield Israel.'
The Hill
a day ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Putin offers to broker Israel, Iran deal
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to mediate an end to Iran and Israel's nearly weeklong military clash on Thursday while addressing the interests of both countries. 'This is an extremely delicate issue that calls for extremely careful actions,' Putin told reporters Thursday. 'However, I believe that a solution can be found.' Putin said he thinks Iran can continue its nonmilitary nuclear efforts, while ensuring Israel's security. 'We are not trying to impose anything on anyone; we are simply articulating our perspective on a potential solution,' he said. President Trump told ABC News over the weekend that he spoke with Putin and wouldn't be against the Russian leader's involvement in brokering a resolution. 'I would be open to it. [Putin] is ready. He called me about it. We had a long talk about it,' Trump said, according to ABC News's report. Russia is a key ally of Iran, and the two countries signed a 'strategic partnership' pact earlier this year. Putin defended Iran's justifications for its uranium enrichment program. 'Overall, we could work with Iran, taking into account its plans to continue using and further developing nonmilitary nuclear technologies, in particular in agriculture, medicine and so on, which are not related to nuclear energy, but we could also work with it in the sphere of nuclear energy itself,' Putin said. Meanwhile, the U.S. is a staunch ally of Israel, and Trump has held multiple meetings with top security officials to assess plans to intervene on behalf of the Jewish state. He hasn't fully outlined his plans for potential U.S. military involvement and dodged a question Wednesday about whether he's moving closer to ordering a strike against Iranian nuclear facilities. 'I may do it; I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do,' Trump told reporters at the White House. 'I can tell you this, that Iran's got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate.' Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a call Thursday about the escalating conflict, both the Kremlin and Beijing confirmed. 'The two sides share identical approaches and firmly condemn Israel's actions in violation of the U.N. Charter and other international norms,' Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters. Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for the China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a readout of their call posted online that Xi stressed that a resolution is an 'urgent priority.' 'China stands ready to strengthen communication and coordination with all relevant parties, foster synergy, uphold justice, and play a constructive role in restoring peace in the Middle East,' she said.
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Putin and Xi Condemn Israel
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a call on Thursday during which they both condemned Israel for striking Iran, the Kremlin said. The two allies condemned "Israeli actions which violated the U.N. Charter and other norms of international law," Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said, Reuters reports. Xi called for an immediate ceasefire and warned the conflict between Israel and Iran risks spreading to other countries in the region. "If the conflict escalates further, not only will the conflicting parties suffer greater losses, but regional countries will also suffer greatly," Xi said during the call, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. "The parties to the conflict, especially Israel, should cease fire as soon as possible to prevent the situation from escalating in turn and resolutely avoid the spillover of war," he added. This is a breaking news story-more to follow. Related Articles Trump's Nuclear Attack 'Doomsday Plane' Arrives In WashingtonSatellite Imagery Shows Evacuation at Largest U.S. Air Base in Middle EastRussia Warns Israel Over Iran Nuclear Site StrikesIsrael Issues Strongest Direct Threat to Iran's Supreme Leader 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
Nikkei Asia
a day ago
- Politics
- Nikkei Asia
Putin and Xi condemn Israel over its Iran strikes in phone call, Kremlin says
ST PETERSBURG/BEIJING (Reuters) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping both condemned Israel on Thursday over its strikes on Iran and agreed that de-escalation was needed, the Kremlin said after the two leaders spoke by telephone. Putin and Xi "strongly condemn Israel's actions, which violate the U.N. Charter and other norms of international law," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
Economic Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Economic Times
Putin and Xi condemn Israel over its Iran strikes in phone call, Kremlin says
In a phone call, Presidents Putin and Xi condemned Israel's strikes on Iran, citing violations of international law and the UN Charter. Both leaders emphasized the need for de-escalation and a political, diplomatic resolution to the conflict and Iran's nuclear program. Putin reiterated Russia's offer to mediate, which Xi supported, as they agreed to maintain close contact. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a phone call on Thursday during which both leaders condemned Israel for its strikes on Iran and agreed de-escalation was needed, the Kremlin men "strongly condemn Israel's actions, which violate the U.N. Charter and other norms of international law," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters."Both Moscow and Beijing fundamentally believe that there is no military solution to the current situation and issues related to Iran's nuclear programme."This solution must be achieved exclusively through political and diplomatic means," said has warned of catastrophe should the Israel-Iran conflict, now in its seventh day, escalate further, and has urged the U.S. not to join Israel's has been in touch with U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in recent days and has repeatedly saidRussia stands ready to mediate between the warring far, no one has taken up Russia's Thursday, Putin reiterated that proposition in his phone call with Xi, a close Chinese leader expressed support for the idea, Ushakov said, "as he believes it could serve to de-escalate the current acute situation."The two men agreed to keep in close contact in the coming days.
