U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed concerns with chinese President Xi Jinping regarding the attacks in Israel from the terrorist group of Hamas. While China condemned the attacks against Israel, they have seemingly decided to stay neutral in the situation so far by not officially naming the attacks as terrorist attacks. So far the most aggressive standpoint that China has taken came from the chinese embassy in Israel, which labeled the Hamas fighters as “terrorists” and “militants”, they also released a statement saying that one of the people kidnapped during the attacks was of Israeli and Chinese descent. The chinese embassy said that Noa Argamani was a “daughter, sister, and friend”. While the Chinese embassy in Israel continues to take a harsher and more aggressive standpoint towards to the attacks, the chinese government continues to attempt to remain neutral despite pressure from the United States of America to aid Israel.
This can mean a complete power shift in the middle east, as well as China’s influence slipping away. China has strong ties with Saudi Arabia, a regional power, and would like to keep those relations strong, hence why China is officially remaining neutral so far. I believe China’s objective by staying neutral is to remain in control of developing countries. By staying neutral they have the option to have relations with Palestine and other countries that don’t identify Israel officially. I also believe that China wants to do whatever the opposite of the United States does. The United States and China are rivals, so the more ability China has to hinder the United States’ influence is beneficial to them, by remaining neutral they can continue to fight American influence in the middle east.
In class we learn about how something as little as identifying a country officially can come with extreme consequences. China refusing to be anything but neutral leaves them with options and that’s exactly what they’re after. By officially recognizing Israel, the United States has decided not to care about what China does. The situation in Israel affects the entire middle east, and also affects the relations between the United States and China, as well as who has the most influence in the region.