Hong Kong, June 17 (ANI): China purports to be a neutral and responsible force for good on the international stage, but its allegiances are as parochial as those of any other nation. This is demonstrated by its unstinting support for friends like Pakistan and Iran as they do battle with India and Israel, respectively.

As Israel and Iran traded violent blows from 13 June onwards, China's top diplomat Wang Yi discussed the situation with his counterpart in Tehran the very next day. A press release issued by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Sayyid Abbas Araghchi briefed Wang Yi on how 'Israel's recent brazen attack on Iran caused casualties among Iranian military personnel and civilians, especially the attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, which seriously violated international law. The military operation by the Israeli side is highly dangerous and may drag the entire region into all-out war.'

According to the official Chinese press release, 'Araghchi thanked China for its consistent understanding and support of Iran's position and expressed confidence that China will play an even more important role in promoting regional peace and stability.'

If such comments did not reveal which side Beijing and the Chinese Communist Party are supporting, the statement went on to say, 'China explicitly condemns Israel's violation of Iran's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, and firmly opposes the reckless attacks targeting Iranian officials and causing civilian casualties. China supports Iran in safeguarding its national sovereignty, defending its legitimate rights and interests, and ensuring the safety of its people. Israel's actions seriously violate the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter and the basic norms governing international relations.'

Yet again, China has picked a side. On this occasion, it has come down firmly on the side of a nation that spreads and exports violent Islamic terrorism and extremism.Such comments also represent another nail in the coffin of Israel-China relations.

Just as it has done with its support for Russia and tsar Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, China's duplicitous diplomatic stance is untenable. Why did Beijing refuse to say the same things when Russia gravely violated Ukraine's 'sovereignty, security and territorial integrity'? It has spoken up for Iran, but not Ukraine. In fact, in the nearly 3.5 years since Russian forces moved into Ukraine, China has not condemned Moscow's war even once, and nor does it permit it to be described as an invasion. This is nothing other than brazen hypocrisy.

China has been unstinting in its support of Palestine too. It was one of the first countries to support the Palestine National Liberation Movement, otherwise known as Fatah. In May 1965, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) established an office in Beijing, and China announced its recognition of the state of Palestine in November 1988.

It is alleged that Mohammed Deif, the Hamas military wing leader who planned the 7 October 2023 attacks against Israel, and who was later killed, had studied artillery and rocketry in the People's Liberation Army General Armament Department's Ordnance Engineering College in 1996. There are other unverified allegations that PLA military advisors and tunnel engineers helped Hamas build its 350-mile tunnel network under Gaza.

While these claims are speculative, other close connections between China and Palestine are beyond doubt. From 13-16 June 2023, before the deadly Israel attack, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met Chairman Xi Jinping in Beijing. The two sides issued a joint statement on the establishment of strategic partnership between China and Palestine.

Beijing never issued any condemnation of the Hamas attack in October 2023. Since then, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh met with Cao Xiaolin, the Chinese Ambassador to Qatar, and Foreign Ministry envoy Wang Kejian in Qatar on 17 March 2024. Later, on 23 July 2024, Foreign Minister Wang Yi participated in the Beijing Declaration on Ending Division and Strengthening Palestinian National Unity with 14 Palestinianfactions, including Hamas.

Israel's military has uncovered large stockpiles of Chinese-manufactured weapons in Gaza. However, China's defense ministry hit back saying it 'never provided any weapons' to conflict areas. Colonel Wu Qian, the Ministry of National Defense spokesman, said in January 2024: 'It needs to be emphasized that China has always adopted a prudent and responsible attitude when it comes to arms export, and strictly follows the three principles of arms exports.'

Indeed, a British parliamentary report last year concluded that such Chinese weapons instead likely came from war-torn areas such as Libya and Syria, with no evidence of weapons being directly delivered to Gaza from China. Nonetheless, Chinese diplomats at the United Nations have blamed Israel for the Gaza war. More than that, China's highly censored and controlled internet has allowed anti- Semitic memes and tropes to proliferate. Beijing did precisely the same in the wake of Putin's invasion of Ukraine. In fact, China actively educated academics, teachers and others on the 'correct understanding' of Russian actions. Such measures are pure propaganda and information warfare to promote particular narratives that suit China's government.

China's interests in the Middle East, and which are being threatened by the current conflict, include large-scale purchases of Iranian oil, and a desire to increase its influence in the Middle East so it can rival the USA. Iran accounts for around 15 per cent of Chinese oil imports. In 2023, for example, Beijing purchased an average of 700,000 barrels of oil daily, delivered via a shadowy fleet of tankers designed to evade Western sanctions.

Iran and China signed a 25-year cooperation program in 2021, where Beijing committed US$400 billion to Iran's economy in exchange for heavily discounted oil. Likely, some of this income goes to support Iran's military, especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Spikes in Iranian oil prices and delivery throughput would badly affect China for starters, so China does have ulterior motives for the conflict to end.

Gordon Chang, Senior Fellow at the far-right Gatestown Institute in the USA, in a recent interview with CNN, said, 'Remember, China has taken more than 90 per cent of Iran's exports of crude oil, but also weapons support.' He added that, 'Hamas, Houthi militia, Hezbollah, all of them have large quantities of Chinese weapons. Iran's weapons are made with China's computer chips.' Chang asserted, 'The Chinese...they're losing their proxy, Iran. Iran has been accomplishing China's foreign policy goals for quite some time. And China's Middle East policy is now in disarray.'

He continued, 'This is a point where China is suffering a heavy loss in the Middle East. It's not going to take that lying down...' There is a military element to the relationship too. In March, China, Iran and Russia conducted a trilateral Security Belt 2025 naval exercise, for instance. Beijing's friendship with Tehran is referred to in some quarters as the 'Red-Green Alliance'.

Yet such an alliance is another anomaly. China is a communist, atheistic regime, yet it has extended hands of fellowship with Islamic states like Iran and Pakistan. While there might be no religious affinity between them, Iran does share an ideological antipathy to the US.

Turning next to Pakistan and India after their recent conflict, Dr Chietigj Bajpaee, Senior Research Fellow for South Asia in the Asia-Pacific Programme at Chatham House, offered his comments. 'Officially, of course, Beijing maintains a neutral position ...Clearly, it has leaned in Pakistan's favor in its statements. It has referred to it as its iron-clad friend [and] it said that it understands Pakistan's legitimate security concerns.'

Bajpaee continued, 'Looking at this in a broader context, over 80 per cent of Pakistan's arms imports over the last five years have come from China. China has blocked India's efforts at placing Pakistan-based terrorists on UN sanctions list, and...China is also a party to the Kashmir dispute through its claim in Aksai Chin.' He concluded that 'China's position is far from neutral'.

He had predicted that, if tensions between India and Pakistan had escalated to a broader conventional conflict, then China might have played 'a more hands-on role'. Of course, 'In terms of looking at a perspective from Indian military planners, the worst-case scenario for it is to face a potential two-front war dealing with both China and Pakistan at the same time.'

The Chatham House academic concluded: 'I think China's position is complex. I think India would not really accept it as a neutral mediator.' Indeed, India has its own disputes with China along their shared border. Furthermore, in the wake of the brief conflict with India, China was swift to offer Pakistan a whole host of new weapons to wage further war. On 6 June, the Pakistani government on its X/Twitter account said Beijing had offered it 40 fifth-generation J-35 fighters, KJ-500 airborne early warning aircraft and HQ-19 air defense systems.

China may pretend to be impartial in global conflicts, but it has vested interests. This is certainly the case with Pakistan, where it acts as a useful foil against India, and gets to make billions of dollars in military sales to boot. It is clear that China has become far more assertive and vocal on the global stage of late. In 2021, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told members of Joe Biden's administration that the US could no longer 'speak with China from a position of strength'. This attitude has only deepened since then, based on a firm belief that China's time to rise has come, and that the West is in decline. Beijing senses that a form of strategic stalemate with the US has been achieved, where the two wield comparable levels of influence.

Such sentiments have only been reinforced by President Donald Trump's return to power. He has divided the US and alienated many countries - including friends and allies - and appears to be hastening the decline of the US. This is likely one reason why Xi has been patient in his dealings with the US, for Trump's erratic behaviour is doing an unexpectedly efficient job of undermining the standing of the US in the world's eyes.

Tong Zhao, a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, writing for the US-based Council on Foreign Relations, assessed this about Sino-US ties: 'Over the next four years, the risk of a military crisis will likely rise as the two countries increasingly test each other's resolve. By the time Trump's current term nears its conclusion, China will have had ample opportunity to reevaluate the United States' domestic political environment, its commitment to Taiwan, the global economy's dependence on the island's semiconductor industry, and the trajectory of China's own economic development and military modernization.'

Zhao added, 'The risk of a US-Chinese military crisis could sharply escalate if Beijing further closes the capability gap with Washington and perceives international indifference to Taiwan's status, grows frustrated with nonmilitary efforts to unite Taiwan with China, and foresees more pro-Taiwan leadership in Washington and Taipei. What appears today as strategic stalemate could rapidly transform into something more volatile - and dangerous - for both countries.'

Beijing's belief that the US is in terminal decline also emboldens it to act more aggressively. Its bullying of the Philippines is a case in point, but China is also asserting itself against the likes of Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, plus it is more boldly coming out in support of countries like Iran and Pakistan.

Zhao noted: 'Beijing has shown...little inclination to initiate near-term military conflict, even over issues of core national interest such as Taiwan. This restraint, however, has been underwritten by a military buildup, spanning conventional and nuclear forces, that Chinese officials see as critical to shifting the balance of power with the United States. Trump's fixation on 'holding the cards' in international disputes only reinforces Beijing's conviction that hard power rules. And Beijing believes it is in position to gain the upper hand.'

As Zhao pointed out: 'Many in Beijing suspect that, if any US president might quietly tolerate China's coercive takeover of Taiwan, it would be Trump. China's early April military exercises in the strait served in part as a probe of his resolve. The Trump administration's verbal condemnations in response did not impress Beijing, with Chinese analysts highlighting the relatively muted nature of the US response.' (ANI)