China Demands End to Middle East War Over Economic Risks
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- Lin Jian, spokesperson for China's foreign ministry, said on March 20 that the "still widening war" harms the common interests of all countries and that "force is not the solution to problems," urging unimpeded energy flows from the Gulf.
- Foreign Minister Wang Yi told French President Emmanuel Macron's top diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne that "the unjust war should not go on" and urged France to help "prevent other countries from becoming further involved" in the conflict.
- Wang Yi has spoken with counterparts from every permanent UN Security Council member except the United States since the war began, a diplomatic gap the article highlights.
- China's foreign ministry tied its March 20 remarks to the 23rd anniversary of the 2003 US-led Iraq War, a conflict Lin and Wang referenced as a cautionary example of instability.
- Analysts told the outlet the conflict gives Beijing a chance to cast itself as the more reliable superpower, but higher energy costs threaten Chinese manufacturers and risk fueling inflation if fighting continues.
- Xi Jinping's flagship Belt and Road Initiative faces disruption because key routes and export corridors run through the Gulf, North Africa, and Europe at a time of depressed Chinese domestic demand.
- The Middle East war has delayed a planned meeting between Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump by roughly six weeks, postponing a reset in US-China relations rattled by tariffs.
Why it matters: China is threading a needle: positioning itself as the world's responsible power while absorbing higher energy costs and Belt and Road disruptions from a war it cannot stop. The delay of the Xi-Trump summit — about six weeks per the article — means US-China tariff tensions stay frozen during the conflict, and Beijing's selective diplomacy (every P5 counterpart except the US) sharpens the geopolitical divide.
