BEIJING: From public silence to speaking out twice within a week, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s more direct messaging on the Iran war reflects mounting pressure from energy risks as the conflict drags on, and a push by Beijing to project greater diplomatic influence, say analysts.
While Chinese officials have previously spoken out, Xi’s remarks on Apr 14 – and again on Monday (Apr 20) – were his first on the war that’s now in its eighth week. Experts say this signals Beijing’s recalculation on a conflict it initially expected to end more quickly.
“I think China was content to let things unfold but as the situation changed, China now feels it needs to play a more proactive and prominent role,” Dylan Loh, an associate professor at Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU) School of Social Sciences, told CNA.
Experts said that speaking out more forcefully allows China to signal its stake in de-escalation and strengthen its broader negotiating leverage as a summit between Xi and United States counterpart Donald Trump inches closer.
Yet the risk is that Beijing’s rhetoric begins to outpace its ability or willingness to influence events on the ground, they added.
“Generically calling for the Strait to open and expressing support for good neighbourliness in the Gulf is meaningless unless Beijing takes action to curtail Iran’s aggression and threats to the security of its neighbours,” Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), told CNA.
BREAKING THE SILENCE
Xi made his first public remarks on the Middle East conflict on Apr 14.
During a meeting with Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, he put forward a four-point proposal on promoting Middle East peace – centred on peaceful coexistence, respect for sovereignty, upholding international law, and regional coordination in development and security.
