The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday that Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Washington, DC, this week at the invitation of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, to discuss the Israel-Hamas war.
China has been pushing for a “ceasefire” before the Israeli ground action against the perpetrators of the October 7 atrocity can begin, effectively allowing Hamas to kill civilians with impunity.
“Since the outbreak of the current round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, China has maintained close communication with relevant parties, actively participated in the consultations at the UN Security Council, and made every effort to promote peace talks and help de-escalate the situation,” claimed Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning.
“The international community, especially the many Arab countries, commends China’s just position and the role it has played as a responsible major country,” Mao boasted.
Mao claimed Wang Yi has created a peace proposal for the Israel-Hamas war that is winning applause from unnamed and unspecified world leaders. Wang’s plan would end with the Palestinians receiving their own state.
“We all support the two-state solution and the realization of Palestinian people’s right to statehood and survival and their right of return, which we believe is the only viable way out of the Palestinian question,” Mao said.
The “right of statehood” is looking very dubious after the Hamas atrocities of October 7, and the “right of return” – which would flood Israel with the descendants of Palestinians who fled at the behest of invading Arab leaders in the 1960s, effectively eliminating the State of Israel – is a complete non-starter.
Mao grew somewhat testy when asked about reports that Wang confirmed Israel’s “right to self-defense” on Tuesday during his first telephone call with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen since the Hamas attack.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Wang also told Cohen that Israel should “abide by international humanitarian law and protect the safety of civilians,” which would suggest China is joining the chorus to protect Hamas from full-scale retaliation by pressuring Israel to call off its airstrikes on Gaza and cancel its planned ground offensive.
Mao insisted Wang made the same points to both Israeli and Palestinian officials, in an effort to “prevent the situation from escalating and avert an even worse humanitarian disaster.”
“I would like to stress that China does not pursue any selfish interests on the Palestinian question,” she said. “We sincerely hope that the Palestinian question can have a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement based on the two-state solution, so that the legitimate security concerns of all parties can be thoroughly addressed.”
China’s state-run Global Times gushed with enthusiasm for Wang’s visit on Tuesday, interpreting Blinken’s invitation as a sign of “comprehensive recovery” for U.S.-China relations.
The Global Times saw Wang’s visit as a precursor to a meeting between dictator Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden, which Biden has hinted could happen at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco next month.
The Chinese Communist paper was still very excited about California Governor Gavin Newsom’s week-long visit to China, which it has previously portrayed as a sign that U.S. Democratic Party politics are shifting in Beijing’s favor, with the very China-friendly Newsom acting as a herald for Biden’s forthcoming policy pivot.
The Global Times pointed to various other teleconferences and delegations as signs the Biden administration is ready for “a higher level of U.S.-China meetings,” which will happen only if the U.S. abandons its “strategy of containment against China” and “duplicitous” policies.
The article strongly hinted one of the first concessions the Biden team will be expected to make is rolling back restrictions on tech sales to China.
“China has made clear requests, including scrapping additional tariffs imposed on Chinese products, removing sanctions on Chinese companies, lifting tech restrictions and adhering to the one-China principle on the Taiwan question,” Fudan University director of American studies Wu Xinbo told the Global Times.
Other “Chinese experts” quoted in the piece complained about U.S. support for Taiwan and the Philippines, the latter of which is currently resisting Chinese territorial aggression in the South China Sea.
These comments suggested China might want the U.S. to talk the Philippines into giving up its claims on disputed South China Sea islands as a diplomatic gift to Beijing, but on Monday the U.S. restated its commitment to defend the Philippines if China forces a military confrontation over the disputed territories. The Biden administration was moved to make this pronouncement because Chinese ships have taken to ramming Filipino boats to keep them away from the Second Thomas Shoal.
Taken in sum, the Global Times article about Wang’s impending visit to Washington reads like a Christmas list of gifts the Biden team might offer Wang to demonstrate its sincere desire for improved relations, without the slightest hint of anything Wang might offer in return.
Senior Biden administration officials told the Associated Press (AP) on Tuesday that Blinken hopes to “push China to be more constructive in the Middle East,” especially by using its influence with hostile regimes like Iran to keep the Gaza conflict from escalating and spreading.
“While Wang’s visit won’t solve any differences, it’s part of the U.S. diplomatic effort toward open communications to minimize risks,” the Biden officials told the AP.
