China’s attempts to boost its diplomatic clout may fall short of reality

China’s role in brokering consensus among Palestinian factions shows it is “not waiting but leading” on Middle East diplomacy, an analyst at Shanghai International Studies University argued. But experts are unconvinced about the agreement’s impact: It lacks an implementation mechanism, one told Foreign Policy, so its pledges are unlikely to turn into reality. And Israel doesn’t consider Beijing a viable mediator, a Chatham House expert added. The agreement could also break down if Palestinian Authority President Mahmood Abbas decides to abandon reconciliation with Hamas under pressure from Israel and the US, or out of fear of being personally “cast aside,” his former advisor told The Washington Post.

China “speaks loudly but carries a small stick” in the Middle East, taking advantage of low-risk opportunities to undermine the US without harming relations with countries like Iran, or embroiling itself in the region’s conflicts, The Diplomat argued. But China has more explicitly engaged in anti-Israel rhetoric as part of its efforts to win over the Global South, a Foreign Affairs column argued. By leveraging that sentiment in countries like Indonesia and South Africa, “China can present itself as an alternative to what it sees as warmongering, hegemonic, and hypocritical America.”

The Ukrainian foreign minister’s trip to Beijing comes weeks after President Volodymyrr Zelensky criticized China for helping Moscow derail a peace summit in Switzerland, Politico noted. His visit “reflects a calculation that any peace deal favorable to Ukraine would likely be a non-starter without China on board,” the Associated Press wrote. But the gap between Ukraine and China’s peace initiatives won’t budge without “radical change” in Beijing’s position, which still looks unlikely, an Kyiv-based expert told the South China Morning Post.