After Iran fired a barrage of 180 missiles at Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for the assassination of the leaders of two of its proxies and one of its senior military leaders, people in China went online, inundating social media platforms with a wide range of reactions to the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.
On Weibo, a platform akin to X with added censorship, most users condemned Israel, while some voices called for a show of support in contrast with mainstream anti-Israel and anti-U.S. opinions.
Chinese official government media leveraged the opportunity to promote national pride, highlighting the successful evacuation of Chinese citizens from Lebanon.
Chinese officials call for peace
In official statements, Chinese representatives made appeals for sovereignty and peace, with a focus on preventing Chinese citizens from being caught in the crossfire of the intensifying conflict.
Responding to a question about Iran’s attack on Israel, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson simply said that China opposed the intrusion upon Lebanese sovereign rights and cited Gaza as the “root cause of this round of turmoil in the Middle East.”
The Chinese Embassy in Israel also issued a message following the bombardment, calling on Chinese citizens in Israel to take precautions and reminding Chinese citizens not to travel to Israel.
“Be prepared for various attacks involving missiles, rockets, and drones, and enter the bomb shelter as soon as the alarm sounds. Do not go out unless necessary, and avoid going to high-risk areas and sensitive locations such as the north."
Such warnings seemingly resonated with Chinese Weibo users. The search term on the Chinese social media site, “# Remind our country’s citizens to not travel to Israel for the time being” reached 33.6 million clicks and some 3,700 discussions and thread posts. For each topic with a hashtag on Weibo, the site shows the total clicks and comments.
The government prioritized evacuating Chinese citizens in Lebanon. The popularity of this move was reflected online, with the phrase, “# Chinese planes flew from Lebanon amid gunfire to evacuate Chinese citizens” attracting 28.5 million clicks and more than 3,700 comments.
Official news service China Daily posted a video of 146 Chinese citizens in Lebanon and five of their foreign family members walking out of the cabin of the Air China charter flight that evacuated them to Beijing. The video featured passengers waving Chinese flags as they entered the airport. One woman said, “This war is ruthless, but our country is full of love.”
Online commenters point fingers
"# Israeli air base hit by Iranian missile" was another hot search topic on Weibo, which garnered 16.3 million clicks and more than 1,000 comments.
Nearly 300 commenters expressed opinions on a post from Chinese Central Television reporting the news of the Iranian attack. A slim majority condemned Israel, some cracked jokes about Iran and the attack, and a small number expressed support for Israel.
"Israel is really a demon country," said one user, while another said, “Hit Israel hard. It will be a relief.”
Striking a different tone, user “Master Ji Xian” said, “We firmly support Israel in eradicating all evil and eliminating terrorists.”
An article posted by Sina News attracted more than 113,000 comments, which overwhelmingly condemned Israel and criticized the United States.
“Iran struck too late,” replied one user. Another wrote, "A group of Israelis is disturbing the peace in the Middle East. Without the support of the United States, would they have such courage?"
Despite the dominating anti-Israel sentiment on Weibo, some discussions on WeChat, which has relatively looser regulations on speech, show a different side of Chinese public opinion.
WeChat public account “Vision Talk” published an article titled "Iran launches 200 missiles to attack Israel, Russia collectively shoots and kills 16 Ukrainian prisoners of war." Many of the 150 comments on the post expressed support for Ukraine and Israel.
“Ukraine should learn from Israel and track down every last murderer,” one commenter wrote. Another user replied, “There will be no peace in the Middle East until the Iranian villain is destroyed.”
Katherine Michaelson contributed to this report.
