After being pressured by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Beijing has condemned the attacks launched by Hamas in Israel but did so without naming Hamas.
In the latest statement from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China condemned "all violence and attacks on civilians" and said "the most urgent task now is to reach a ceasefire and restore peace."
The statement issued Monday came after Schumer, a Democrat, expressed his disappointment to Chinese leader Xi Jinping over China's earlier statement that merely called for restraint.
"I raised with President Xi the unfolding atrocities carried out against Israel and the need for the world community to stand together against terrorism and with the Israeli people and pointedly requested from President Xi that the Chinese foreign minister strengthen their statement; they did," Schumer said in a statement Monday.
However, at the regular news conference on Monday, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not name Hamas and refused to describe the attacks launched by the militants as an act of terrorism.
Only the Chinese Embassy in Israel has named Hamas and labeled the militants “terrorists” when it said a young woman of Israeli and Chinese heritage was among the hostages seized by Hamas fighters, according to The Associated Press.
"Noa was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists when attending a peace music festival in southern Israel. She was dragged from Israel to Gaza," an embassy statement said. “She is a daughter, a sister and a friend."
Maintaining influence
Analysts believe China avoids directly condemning Hamas to maintain its influence in developing countries.
Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told VOA Mandarin, "China has always leaned toward the Arab world and even the nonstate actors backed by rogue states."
Benjamin H. Friedman, policy director at Defense Priorities, told VOA Mandarin, "China is trying to take a position of greater neutrality than the United States and to be seen in the world as a more neutral, or honest broker, and not necessarily aligned with Israel as the United States. And I think that's consistent with a desire to gain influence in a lot of the developing world."
China has increased its ties with Israel since 2013, especially in scientific and technological fields, including military technology.
Meanwhile, Beijing has made inroads in peace mediation in the Middle East, challenging the influence of the U.S. in the region.
Analysts say Beijing's ambiguous attitude toward the recent attacks is calculated to maintain relations with regional powers such as Saudi Arabia and to contrast with any efforts by the U.S. to mediate the conflict.
Saudi Arabia and Iran resumed diplomatic relations in March in a deal brokered by China that was seen as increasing Beijing's geopolitical power in the region.
Adam Gallagher, managing editor for public affairs and communications at the U.S. Institute of Peace, wrote in March that for China, “brokering rapprochement between these two longtime Middle East rivals has key strategic and symbolic dimensions.”
“On the strategic side, Beijing needs to maintain the free flow of oil from the region. But what the deal signals about Beijing’s role in global affairs may be just as, if not more, critical for China … which has been on a diplomatic offensive aimed at building an alternative to the United States’ dominance in global affairs.”
The United States, meanwhile, has been trying to broker a peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel. That would be seen as a diplomatic setback for Iran, which has long been identified as an important backer of Hamas.
Carice Witte, founder and executive director of Israel-based think tank Sino-Israel Global Network and Academic Leadership, told VOA Mandarin that while China does not want to see attacks on Israel like those over the weekend, "It does want to see Saudi Arabia stay on the side of China. The normalization that will happen, especially now after what we're seeing, will pull more Arab states into normalization and cooperation with Israel."
Israel has described Hamas’ weekend attacks as its "9/11" incident, referring to the impact the attacks have had on Israelis in lives, property and spirit.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S., China unequivocally condemned terrorism and made supportive gestures to the U.S. government, a move that helped Beijing improve its relations with Washington after years of tensions between the two powers.
However, experts do not see China as willing and able to capitalize on the current crisis to enhance Sino-Israeli relations.
"I don't think they're seizing the opportunity to elevate their partnership. They seem more interested in being perceived as neutral," Friedman said.
Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
