China Backs Iran in Fight Against Israel

 

China Supports Iran, Condemns Israel

Amid escalating tensions between Israel and Iran, the Chinese government has issued a strong advisory urging its citizens to leave Israel due to the deteriorating security situation.

China has taken a stance on the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict. On Saturday, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Israeli counterpart in a phone call that Israel’s strikes against Iran were “unacceptable” and a “violation of international law.”

Wang offered support to his Iranian counterpart in “safeguarding [Iran’s] national sovereignty, defending its legitimate rights and interests, and ensuring the safety of its people.” Chinese President Xi Jinping echoed these comments in a statement Tuesday. The Chinese response is stronger and more direct than its reaction to the round of conflict between Iran and Israel last fall.

China has mustered its diplomatic resources, including issuing a condemnation of Israel’s latest strikes through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), of which Iran is a member. This prompted a rebuke from India, an SCO member with strong arms-trading ties to Israel that was not consulted on the statement.

Iran has drawn closer to China in recent years, with the two countries cooperating regularly on military exercises and signing an economic, military, and security cooperation agreement in 2021. More than 90 percent of Iranian oil exports go to China—using a system of workarounds to bypass Western banks and shipping services and yuan-denominated transactions to avoid triggering sanctions.

If Israel is successful in disrupting Iran’s oil industry, it could be painful for China. But since Iran is only China’s sixth-biggest supplier, China will be able to absorb the blow.

China is unlikely to provide Iran with anything more than rhetorical support, despite its strong statement. It has little desire to get drawn further into Middle Eastern affairs, instead welcoming the distraction for the United States. Hawks in Washington have tried to sell the China-Iran connection as stronger than it is; Iran is ultimately marginal to China’s core interests.

If China were to intervene, it would probably be to pressure Iran not to close the Strait of Hormuz to shipping, as Tehran has threatened in the past. Although China’s main oil supplier is Russia, about half of all Chinese oil imports come from Gulf states. A disruption of the strait and subsequent surge in energy prices would be painful for China’s already struggling economy.

China may have hopes of acting as a peacemaker, building on its mediation of Iran-Saudi reconciliation in 2023. But it’s hard to see Israel accepting China as a neutral broker. Sino-Israeli relations have degenerated amid the Israel-Hamas war, both due to China’s pro-Palestinian position and outbreaks of antisemitism on the Chinese internet. Turning to China for a deal would also risk alienating a petulant U.S. president.

For China, an upside of the Iran-Israel conflict could be new markets for its defense technology. Pakistan outperformed expectations in its recent skirmish with India, a success attributed in large part to its use of Chinese systems: the J-10C fighter jet, which was battle-tested for the first time in that conflict, and the mostly Chinese-made air defense system.

So far, Israel has dominated over Iran’s outdated air defense systems and air force, and remedying that is going to be high on Tehran’s agenda once it has some breathing room. Middle Eastern buyers were previously skeptical of J-10s, but Iran seemed interested before the current conflict.

China was once a major arms partner of Iran, but the two countries have not signed any new deals since 2005. That could now change.

China leads exodus from Israel and Iran as nations rush to evacuate citizens over conflict

China has begun evacuating its citizens from Iran and Israel as tensions grow in the region over the escalating bombardments in both nations.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry called on its citizens to board chartered flights out of Iran and Israel on Tuesday following President Xi Jinping’s call for a cease-fire between the warring states.

“Military conflict is not a way to solve problems, and the escalation of regional tensions is not in the common interests of the international community,” Xi said in his first public comment since the conflict broke out on Friday.

China’s evacuation order coincided with flights out of Israel for 139 people from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with the Tourism Ministry offering to help any foreigners coordinate flights out of the Jewish state.

Czech Defense Minister Jana Černochová confirmed that a plane carrying 66 Czech nationals landed in Prague on Tuesday morning after they were transported by bus to an Egyptian airport.

“It was not possible to send the army plane straight to Israel,” the ministry said, due to the airspace closure around the Jewish state over Iran’s retaliatory attacks.

A Slovakia-bound plane carrying 73 passengers — mostly Slovaks but also Poles, Czechs, Austrians, Slovenians and others — landed in Bratislava overnight, said Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar.

Among the Slovak evacuees were five family members of diplomats working in Tel Aviv, officials added.

Poland said Tuesday that evacuation flights for its citizens were in the works and set to take off on Wednesday and Thursday.

Israel’s Tourism Ministry said there are about 38,000 tourists currently in Israel, with the agency working with the National Security Council and Transportation Ministry to coordinate flights out of the Jewish state.