Nothing demonstrates a nation’s strength more than its increasing desire to reshape the globe. China made one such attempt last week when it mediated “peace” between several Palestinian factions, namely the far more moderate Fatah and the violent Hamas.
Representatives from twelve other factions attended a three-day conclave in Beijing together with these two competitors, and they all made the decision to work for national unity by putting aside their disagreements.
The “Beijing Declaration,” which decided that the united Palestinian factions will establish a “national reconciliation government” after the conflict in Gaza ends, was one of the most significant results of the peace conference.
China is obviously overjoyed with this latest “diplomatic achievement.” It is essentially a self-pat on the back, but the state-run Chinese media can’t stop raving about it. The country’s state-run English language TV channel, CGTN, reported in its headline that the world community has “overwhelmingly” embraced the Beijing declaration.
Looking past the headline reveals only a few nations who are friendly with China, as well as Hamas representatives who are applauding it. The article goes on to give China credit for the détente between Saudi Arabia and Iran as well as the Middle East’s reconciliation movement, although it’s unclear to what other reconciliation they have in mind.
Since the “Abraham accords,” which marked the culmination of the region’s growing support of Israel, were the product of American initiative under Trump and had nothing to do with China in actuality. However, China never lets the facts stop its conceit. The accord has already been hailed by its media as a significant step toward Palestinian national unity and a turning point in Hamas-Fatah relations.
In fact, an opinion piece in the Global Times asserted that only China mediates peace in the region, while the US encourages turmoil. China is taking advantage of the occasion to imply that it is capable of mediating disputes in other arenas. For example, on Wednesday, the Guangdong province of South China hosted a meeting between the foreign ministers of China, Wang Yi, and Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba.
Kuleba stated during the discussions that China can contribute positively to bringing Russia and Ukraine closer together. Given that US President Joe Biden has chosen to drop out of the presidential contest and that the US commitment to Ukraine’s security is beginning to wane, this is undoubtedly an important statement. However, China is presenting itself as the next big thing in the world of peace by employing similar recommendations.
Beijing sees the rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the mediating of peace between Palestinian groups, and now the Ukrainian foreign minister’s declaration of its capacity to bring about peace as portents of its entry into the global security arena. According to the Chinese perspective, the world requires China’s leadership to be more secure and stable, and they are now formally requesting it. But in practice, is China making the globe a more peaceful place?
To address this, let us examine the détente that Beijing mediated between Saudi Arabia and Iran 1.5 years ago. Without a doubt, a major factor in the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran was the agreement agreed to restore diplomatic connections. The two sides did have a chance to speak candidly about certain shared concerns as a result of the reopening of embassies and the diplomats’ exchange.
The late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi also visited Riyadh in November of last year. Still, relations have not thawed to the degree Beijing is asserting. Their relations with Saudi Arabia are still dominated by regional problems, ensuring the failure of Iran’s attempts to rally support for Hamas.
Another example of how things haven’t warmed up as promised is the Saudis’ denial of permission for a group of 30,000 Iranians to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, citing a technical dispute over flight procedures.
The reality is that there is still a great deal of mistrust between the two parties. Saudi Arabia is leery of Iran’s network of proxies, and Iran is apprehensive of the US-Saudi alliance. The situation is made more complicated by Iran’s ongoing support for Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Yemeni Houthis in their campaign against Israel.
In Saudi Arabia, it is perceived as an effort to impede the normalization of its relations with Israel. Now, Riyadh is once again afraid of an Iranian-promoted “Shia crescent” that would encompass it in the region. Because of all of this, any advancement following the peace accord is dubious, if not impossible.
Returning to the Hamas-Fatah peace, let me say this: China’s efforts have done nothing but damage Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas’s reputation by forcing him to sign a peace agreement with an actor who is widely considered to be a terrorist.
Even those who were unaware of Hamas’s existence until a year ago are now aware of its dubious past thanks to the organization’s attack on Israeli citizens on October 7. Foreign Minister Israel Katz denounced Abbas for supporting assassins and rapists, therefore Israel missed the chance to denounce this sympathy with terrorists.
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According to experts on West Asia, although China is praising itself for ending factionalism in Palestine, there have been many previous accords of this like, none of which have proven to be successful.
It’s also heartbreaking to see that some Indian commentators are hailing Beijing as a hero for mediating a peace agreement between Palestinian factions. However, it appears that many of those factions—like the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement—are classified as terrorist organizations.
China has never hesitated to use terrorism as a tool of strategic warfare. It still supports terrorists headquartered in Pakistan who attack India. Ironically, Beijing is positioning itself as the world’s next great peacemaker while uniting various groups who use violence to intimidate Israel. Not only should we in India see this irony, but we should also strongly denounce China’s duplicity.
