“The war continues, but the war is not the theme of Israel-China bilateral relations.”
Public outrage over Israel’s escalating genocide in Gaza has intensified so much in recent weeks that even Israel’s closest friends in Europe, including the UK, France and Germany, have begun to express reservations.
In the UK, Labour backbenchers have intensified their calls for the Keir Starmer government to impose economic sanctions on Israel while the former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, now an independent MP, has requested a parliamentary inquiry into the UK’s supporting role in Israel’s near-annihilation of the Gaza Strip.
Legal Ass Covering
Granted, many of these objections, especially those coming from the highest levels of government in countries like the UK, Germany and France, fall into one or more of three categories: “empty rhetoric”, “too little, too late”, and/or “attempted legal ass-covering”. As Norman Finkelstein explains in an interview with India & Global Left, Europe’s senior politicians know exactly what is about to happen, which is why they are trying to cover their ass after spending much of the past 21 months cheering on Israel’s army:
That’s why they start to denounce Israel — because they want to keep their hands clean at the moment when they knew that ‘this is it’, that Israel was going to push [the Gazans] out. So they decide they have to be on record as opposing the second… Nakba. They knew what Israel was doing and they wanted to distance themselves.
So, you remember, the French, Canadians and British denounced what Israel was doing. Then the Germans weighed in. Then the Nazi Princess Ursula Von der Leyen weighed in. Then the EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas weighed in. They all needed to have it on record that ‘we opposed’ it. They all knew what Israel was planning.
Also, while some of the language used in official public statements and press releases may have changed in recent weeks, the actions haven’t.
Just days after Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul criticised Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip, he reiterated Germany’s continuing materiel support for those actions. In the UK, Keir Starmer, who allegedly cut his teeth practicing international human rights law, decried the situation in Gaza as “appalling and intolerable.” Hours later, another UK spy plane was doing the rounds over Gaza collecting yet more actionable intel for the IAF’s bombing campaigns.
All that being said, the mere fact that the language is shifting in many Western capitals is nonetheless relevant. It means that even some of Israel’s biggest apologists have finally run out of words to excuse or obfuscate its worst war crimes, now they are reaching their final phases.
Piers Morgan, who is as reliable a barometer of shifting Anglo-American public opinion as one is likely to find, is finally calling Israel’s military campaign against Gaza, now in its 21st month, a genocide. When even the likes of Morgan are no longer willing to defend the indefensible in Gaza, the Netanyahu regime’s PR offensive has finally collapsed. That would be good news, if it wasn’t already too late. With 92% of Gaza’s housing units and 70% of all structures already destroyed or damaged, Gaza is already uninhabitable.
But not all the talk is inconsequential for Israel, claims an op-ed in the FT:
In the past few weeks, EU foreign ministers have triggered a review of Israel’s association agreement with the bloc, Britain has halted trade talks, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund blacklisted an Israeli company for facilitating energy deliveries to West Bank settlements, and the leaders of France, the UK and Canada threatened to put sanctions on the country.
The sanctions the EU imposed on Israeli settlers late last year are already beginning to bite, it seems. Just yesterday, Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich lambasted the country’s banks that have refused to provide services to sanctioned Israeli settlers. Smotrich called on the lenders not to comply with the sanctions, warning that failure to do so could result in them facing steep compensation bills.
“Building Meaningful Partnerships”
However, not everyone is trying — or even pretending — to distance themselves from Tel Aviv right now. The People’s Republic of China, for example, is actually seeking to strengthen its ties with Israel.
After initially siding with Palestine (and Hamas) following October 7, Beijing is now looking to rebuild ties with Israel. Just four days ago, as Israel’s Defence Forces were unleashing coordinated attacks on aid depots, China’s ambassador to Israel Xiao Junzheng discussed “deepening China-Israel economic and trade cooperation” with Israel’s Minister of Economy and Industry, Nir Barkat.
“In a world where economic resilience and innovation matter more than ever,” said Xiao Junzheng, “building meaningful partnerships is key.”
Beijing’s relationship with Israel has always been complex. Israel was the first country in the Middle East to recognise People’s Republic of China, in 1950. However, the People’s Republic of China did not return the favour by recognising and beginning formal relations with Israel until 1992 — 42 years later. Since then, the economic and strategic ties between the two countries have grown and deepened, to the point that China is now Israel’s second largest trade partner.
At the same time, the PRC has strengthened its ties with Israel’s main regional rival, Tehran, and has been providing weaponry not only to Iran, including allegedly material for hundreds of ballistic missiles, but also Iran’s three main proxies in the region, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthi militia. Beijing also refused to condemn Hamas’ attack on October 7, and only broke its silence a week later to criticise Israel for its military invasion of Gaza and demand a ceasefire.
In April 2024, Ma Xinmin, a Foreign Ministry legal department official, set out Beijing’s stance at an International Court of Justice hearing in February:
“In pursuit of the right to self-determination, the Palestinian people’s use of force to resist foreign oppression and to complete the establishment of an independent state is an inalienable right well founded in international law.”
A month later, the RAND corporation concluded that Beijing was effectively “burning its bridges with Israel”. A couple of weeks ago, rumours even swirled that Chinese jet fighters had broken Israel’s blockade of Gaza to deliver much-needed supplies to Gaza’s starving people. It was fake news that most supporters of the multipolar world order wanted to believe. In reality, China is cosying up to Israel…
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Nick Corbishley 