The Chinese Communist Party may exploit a situation in which the West’s attention and military aid are focused on the European and Middle Eastern battlefields.
The sudden attack by Hamas on Israel ignited another war after Russia’s, shocking the world. An expert worries whether the United States can spare another hand to help defend world peace with the ongoing Russia–Ukraine war. In particular, communist China remains at high risk of waging a battle over its sovereignty claims to Taiwan.
In the early morning of Oct. 7, Hamas, a U.S.-classified terrorist organization based in Gaza, suddenly fired thousands of rockets at Israel, followed by a combined air, land, and sea attack. The Hamas terrorists attacked men, women, and children and kidnapped many Israeli soldiers and civilians as hostages.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a “state of war” in Israel, emphasizing that the military is fully committed to fighting against Hamas and the war is likely to be protracted.
The United States, the UK, the EU, Japan, India, Ukraine, and dozens of other countries have expressed their solidarity with Israel while condemning Hamas for its acts of terrorism. Meanwhile, Lebanon, Iran, Qatar, Kuwait, and Iraq are siding with Hamas and claiming that Israel is at fault.
Beijing’s stance is intriguing. On Oct. 8, China’s Foreign Ministry urged the relevant parties to remain calm and cease hostilities to protect civilians, saying that “the fundamental way out of the conflict lies in implementing the two-state solution and establishing an independent State of Palestine.”
Yuval Waks, a senior official at the Israeli Embassy in China, told reporters that Beijing should have lodged a “stronger condemnation” toward Hamas, saying “When people are being murdered, slaughtered in the streets, this is not the time to call for a two-state solution.”
Countries with more or less similar attitudes to that of Beijing are Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey; they have said that all parties should exercise restraint to avoid further escalation of tension and to prevent the situation from getting out of control.
In response to Hamas’s devastating terrorist attack on Israel, there is no sense in saying “keeping calm or [exercising] restraint,” said Shi Shan, a U.S.-based China political affairs expert.
“[Those countries] talking about ‘restraint’ at this moment [are] likely to be pulling the strings, implicitly supporting Hamas,” Mr. Shi told The Epoch Times on Oct. 8.
By Shawn Lin
