When Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a ceasefire and an end to the “collective punishment” of the people of Gaza on the sidelines of the BRICS summit this week, his comments added to a steady drumbeat of criticism of Israel since the start of its war with Hamas.
“It is necessary to ensure the safe and unimpeded passage of humanitarian assistance and stop the collective punishment against the people of Gaza through forced eviction, as well as turning off water, electricity and oil,” Xi said on Tuesday via video link at the summit hosted by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
China’s initial response to the conflict was cautious and equivocal in apportioning blame.
Beijing waited until a day after Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel to call on the “relevant parties” to end hostilities and stress the need for a two-state solution, and did not condemn the Palestinian armed group or mention it by name.
But within a week of the attack, Chinese diplomats began to call Israel’s bombardment of Gaza a form of collective punishment and insist that the country’s right to self-defence should be guided by international law and not come at the expense of innocent civilians.
Since then, Beijing has called for multilateral and peaceful solutions to the conflict of the kind promoted by the United Nations, where Beijing took the helm of the powerful Security Council earlier this month.
China, which has expressed its desire to be a peace broker in the Middle East, this week welcomed the announcement of the four-day truce between Israel and Hamas that took effect on Friday.
Chinese state media was quick to claim credit on Beijing’s behalf, with the state-run Global Times saying the ceasefire could be attributed to multiple factors including “the latest UN Security Council resolution adopted under China’s rotating presidency” and “the strong voice of the Global South”.
China’s stance on the war is a matter of contention among analysts.
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