CHINA AS PEACEMAKER?
China has a “realist” view of international relations. It envisions a world where “conflict is avoided by balancing and respecting the interests of large and powerful countries, while lesser nations do what they must to accommodate them. This order has no patience with hand-wringing talks about values or freedom, or individual rights and wrongs. What counts is preserving stability, order and economic opportunity for the many.”
What this means in concrete cases is supporting a peace deal in Ukraine which may involve loss of some Ukrainian territory and a pledge by Ukraine not to join NATO. In the Middle East it means trying to unify the various Palestinian factions to negotiate with Israel and to plan for post-war control of Gaza and the West Bank. Of course, this goes against US policy which is for Ukraine to fight on and for the Palestinians to remain divided, weak, and anti-radical.
China’s efforts as a peacemaker must not be dismissed outright, as they usually are by the West. Any effort to bring warring nations and factions of nations together should be welcomed, and no one else seems to be talking realistically about peace at all.
Sources: The Economist, 7/13/24, The Wall Street Journal, 7/24/24 and Bloomberg News, 7/26/24