China’s role as an unofficial mediator in the latest war in the Middle East is drawing attention across the world as it seeks to project the image of being a responsible global power while U.S. actions are straining its long-standing alliances.
China’s profile in international diplomacy has risen in recent years, thanks to active efforts from its diplomats. Long reluctant to get involved in conflicts far from its borders, it has nevertheless emerged as a major player with attempts to mediate conflicts from Southeast Asia to Europe.
With the Iran war, Beijing is not an official mediator, but all parties — including Washington and Tehran — say it has played an important role in trying to de-escalate the conflict.
Experts say Beijing’s strategies for diplomacy in multiple conflicts have looked similar and have had mixed success in influencing negotiations, but the efforts come at an opportune time, as U.S. actions under President Donald Trump have increased tensions with traditional diplomatic allies.
In the Iran war, experts say, China’s close economic and political ties to Tehran put it in a unique position of influence as the conflict hurts the global energy supply, especially in Asia.
Trump says China encouraged Iran to negotiate ceasefire
Trump has said he believes China helped encourage Iran to negotiate the fragile ceasefire that he has now extended.
Diplomats told The Associated Press that Beijing, the biggest purchaser of sanctioned Iranian oil, used its leverage to urge the Iranians back to the negotiating table for historic face-to-face talks in Pakistan earlier this month.
Beijing has not confirmed that account, likely because it does not want to be seen as part of a U.S.-led security framework, said Yaqi Li, a researcher at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
Still, some saw it as a major moment for Beijing, which has criticized the U.S.’ and Israel’s war against Iran.
After the war began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke with counterparts including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. As of mid-April, he had 30 phone calls with various parties about the war, according to a tally of his calls from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Wang also hosted his counterpart from close ally Pakistan, which has been acting as the main mediator in the latest talks, to present a five-point proposal calling for an end to hostilities and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Chinese President Xi Jinping in recent days has been uncharacteristically outspoken, warning last week against “the world’s retrogression to the law of the jungle.” This week, he called for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen.
China leans on its role as an economic power
George Chen, a partner at The Asia Group consultancy, said China’s role in the Iran situation is irreplaceable. As Tehran’s biggest oil buyer, its advice carries weight. China is also one of the few countries that has showed sympathy for Iran’s situation at the United Nations, he said.
Further, Iran’s ballistic missile program was built with Chinese technology, and China sells dual-use industrial components that can be used for missile production, according to the U.S. government.
Although China isn’t as immediately influential as Pakistan or key Arab Gulf states in active mediation, it occupies a unique position as the key economic partner for many of those countries.
Tuvia Gering, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub, said China is uniquely positioned to offer economic incentives that matter to Tehran, especially after the war ends, as Beijing can promise investment in reconstruction and commercial relief in ways few others can.
“It could be one of the few actors capable of giving Tehran both political cover and material incentives to accept constraints and stick to them,” he said.
China’s role as a global mediator is growing
One of China’s biggest diplomatic wins in recent years came in 2023, when it was among the parties bringing Saudi Arabia and Iran together to restart official engagement.
It was widely seen as a major geopolitical breakthrough that reduced the risk of direct and proxy conflict, said Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, a researcher at the Center of Economic and Law Studies in Indonesia.
But China is choosing when to play a role cautiously, he said, noting that Saudi Arabia and Iran had preexisting incentives to reengage diplomatically. “Its mediation tends to be opportunistic and low-risk, often occurring when conditions are already conducive to agreement,” he said.
Beijing also was active during the recent conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, hosting multiple meetings between them and attending initial ceasefire talks alongside the U.S. in Malaysia. When fighting started again in December, China and the U.S. helped broker another ceasefire.
Beijing also has issued peace proposals for the war in Ukraine, hosting the Ukrainian foreign minister at one point, even though it maintains what it calls a “no-limits” friendship with Russia.
Beijing’s role remains carefully worded
China’s diplomatic efforts tend to follow a pattern, experts say, with Beijing reiterating calls to respect the U.N. charter and national sovereignty.
With the Iran war, Xi last week called for “upholding the principles of peaceful coexistence, upholding national sovereignty, upholding the rule of international law, and coordinating development and security.”
“A lot of the points are remarkably consistent,” said Hoo Tiang Boon, a professor of Chinese foreign policy at Nanyang Technological University.
In conflicts further afield, the stakes for Beijing can be low but benefits can be high as the world tries to come to terms with the Trump administration’s approach to negotiating, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor of international relations at Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University, said.
“What the U.S. is doing is deeply damaging, and everyone suffers from it … and China is displaying global leadership and exerting its global role by speaking to the rules-based international system,” he said. “It’s an inescapable contrast.”
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Leung reported from Hong Kong.
