China is hosting senior officials from mostly Middle Eastern nations for “in-depth” talks on ways to deescalate the Israel-Hamas conflict, as Beijing tries to bolster its credentials as a global peacemaker.
Top diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority are among those visiting Beijing on Monday and Tuesday, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Iran will not be represented at the talks, according to the attendee list provided.
The discussions will touch on protecting civilians and seeking a “just settlement of the Palestinian question,” according to the statement.
China has been trying to portray itself as a force for peace in the Middle East since March, when it helped broker a detente between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Beijing also hosted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in June, some four months before Hamas attacked Israel.
During that visit, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed an international peace conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. China has in recent weeks reiterated its call for an independent Palestinian state and called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Nicholas Burns, the US’s top diplomat in China, last month called on Beijing to denounce terrorism by Hamas, and cited its stance toward the group as yet another challenge in fraught ties between the world’s biggest economies.
China’s ties to Iran have also been controversial. Last month, a US delegation to Beijing led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer asked China to use its links with Iran to try to keep the fighting in Gaza from spreading.
