Palestine

Amid China's diplomatic efforts such as a visit to Beijing by Arab and Islamic countries this week, the Israel-Hamas war is bringing about a much-needed reality check on China's ambitions in the Middle East, says Jean-Loup Samaan, a senior research fellow at the Middle East Institute, National University of Singapore.

China would seek to prevent a wider escalation in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. It is also monitoring whether US involvement in the conflict will affect Washington’s focus on constraining Beijing in Asia.

While the US focuses on the competitive dimension of the relationship and emphasises the need to manage competition responsibly, China stresses a win-win outcome of the relationship through cooperation, says US academic Zhu Zhiqun. Will it be “never the twain shall meet” for the US and China?

Political infighting within and between parties, a ballooning federal debt and a widening income gap; these are just some of the multitude of challenges that the US is dealing with now. However, commentator Jin Jian Guo says that even amid the chaos, the US environment that supports innovation and diverse values is what helps it thrive globally.

With the world divided on being for or against Israel or Hamas, Chinese academic Zhang Tiankan looks at why the weak are not necessarily in the right during a conflict against the strong, as some would assert.

The emerging war fatigue and the twin crises in Ukraine and Gaza have analysts weighing up the implications for Taiwan. Ultimately, the US can afford Ukraine’s failure or even let the conflict in the Middle East continue, but it will do everything possible to keep Taiwan separate from China, says US academic Zhu Zhiqun.

The outside world predicts that China and Russia are set to demonstrate a “no limits” relationship and join hands to counteract the US and its Western alliance. However, China seems to be gaining dominance in China-Russia relations as Moscow is trying to strengthen its already deep economic, military and energy cooperation with Beijing. Lianhe Zaobao’s China Desk and journalist Miao Zong-Han tell us more.

A week after the war between Israel and Hamas broke out, China has openly criticised Israel, saying that its actions “have gone beyond self-defence”. China may be worried about the larger implications of war breaking out in the Middle East, says an academic that Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Edwin Ong spoke to.

In the absence of a solution to the Palestinian issue, the Palestine-Israel peace process will be at a stalemate, unless Israel is able to completely destroy Hamas and other Palestinian anti-Israel forces. In the short term, Israel’s stance on Palestine, especially the Gaza Strip, is likely to harden, says Chinese academic Fan Hongda.