{"id":56928,"date":"2026-04-22T12:45:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T12:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/?p=56928"},"modified":"2026-04-22T12:45:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T12:45:34","slug":"how-china-is-gaining-from-iran-war-by-showing-it-is-different-from-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/?p=56928","title":{"rendered":"How China is gaining from Iran war by showing it is different from US"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Al Jazeera: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Chinese President Xi Jinping called for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz this week, the pragmatic approach Beijing has taken to the US-Israel war on Iran was on full display.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to Saudi Arabia\u2019s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) on the phone on Monday, Xi reiterated China\u2019s support for \u201call efforts conducive to restoring peace and stands for resolving disputes through political and diplomatic means\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Strait of Hormuz should maintain normal passage, as this serves the common interests of regional countries and the international community,\u201d Xi said, according to a Chinese readout of the call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The readout did not specifically mention any of the key players in the war, although the United States and Iran have, between them, brought the strategic waterway to a standstill for the past seven weeks. Iran moved to close the strait to most marine traffic following the launch of the war on February 28, while the US launched a blockade of all Iranian ports on April 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xi\u2019s measured statements stood in sharp contrast to those of US President Donald Trump, who took to social media the same day to declare, \u201cI\u2019m winning a War, BY A LOT, things are going very well\u201d, and that the naval blockade would continue until Washington reached a \u201cDEAL\u201d with Tehran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was also indicative, say analysts, of how China has used the US-Israel war on Iran to present itself as the more responsible of the world\u2019s two superpowers, and one that often prefers to stay in the background rather than out front and centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChina is gaining not by doing any dramatic moves but waiting and seeing and using opportunities as they come to position, and letting the Americans deal with the mess,\u201d said Gedaliah Afterman, head of the Asia-Israel policy programme at the Abba Eban Institute for Diplomacy and Foreign Relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beijing has been able to position itself as a voice of reason thanks to its longstanding policy of \u201cnoninterference\u201d in other countries\u2019 internal affairs and its working relationship with all players in the war on Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China is Iran\u2019s largest trade partner and buys up to 90 percent of its oil, according to the US-China Economic and Security Commission, and in 2021 signed a 25-year \u201ccomprehensive strategic partnership agreement\u201d with Tehran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, Beijing has spent the past decade cultivating closer ties with Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, and remains a top trade partner of both the US and Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChina keeps good relations with the US, Israel, Iran and the Gulf Arab states. All those countries are our friends, even if they are enemies,\u201d said Ma Xiaolin, dean of the Mediterranean Rim Institute at Zhejiang International Studies University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"China's
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and China\u2019s President Xi Jinping in Beijing, on April 14, 2026 [CNS Photo via Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Its commitment to nonintervention was likely a key reason why earlier this month it vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for members to \u201ccoordinate efforts, defensive in nature\u201d to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, according to Afterman. China has vetoed similar efforts to intervene in recent conflicts like Syria and Myanmar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike the US strategic focus on the Middle East, including through regime change efforts, Beijing\u2019s top priorities in the region remain economic, said Chang Ching, senior research fellow at the Society for Strategic Studies in Taipei. Peace is good for business, while war is not, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey expect peace and stability. They are not really concerned with who wins the conflict. Their wish is to try to restore the peaceful environment in the Middle East, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feng Chucheng, founding partner of the Beijing-based Hutong Research, said a further escalation in the war \u201cwould threaten China\u2019s economic and energy security to a degree that could force direct involvement, given that more than 40 percent of its crude oil imports originate from the Middle East\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Al Jazeera: As Chinese President Xi Jinping called for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz this week, the pragmatic approach Beijing has taken to the US-Israel war on Iran was on full display. Speaking to Saudi Arabia\u2019s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) on the phone on Monday, Xi reiterated China\u2019s support for \u201call efforts conducive to restoring peace and stands for resolving disputes through political and diplomatic means\u201d. \u201cThe Strait of Hormuz should maintain normal passage, as this serves the common interests of regional countries and the international community,\u201d Xi said, according to a Chinese readout of the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56929,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-in-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56928"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56930,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56928\/revisions\/56930"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/56929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyalchisarshog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}