China and Russia criticize Israel as divisions with the West sharpen

SMA NEWS – BEIJING
Chinese leader Xi Jinping welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin to Beijing on Tuesday for the start of a visit expected to underscore the two leaders’ shared vision for a new international order no longer dominated by the United States and its democratic allies.

The meeting between the world’s two most powerful autocrats comes as geopolitical fault lines harden globally – first following Russia’s grinding invasion of Ukraine, launched just three weeks after the leaders’ last meeting in the Chinese capital in 2022 — and now as Israel’s war against Palestinian militant group Hamas threatens to spiral into a broader conflict that could shatter stability in the Middle East.

Both Beijing and Moscow have criticized Israel’s actions and called for a ceasefire, in the latest showing of the two powers’ efforts to step up their alternative leadership to that of the US, which affirms Israel’s on-going right to retaliate.

Putin’s visit to Beijing comes as US President Joe Biden prepares to travel to Israel on Wednesday. Biden is expected to give a high-profile show of support for Israel as it attempts to eliminate Hamas, while the US presses for ways to ease humanitarian suffering in Gaza and warns other regional players about becoming further engaged in the conflict.

Xi and Putin are expected to discuss the situation in Gaza during a bilateral meeting Wednesday ahead of the opening ceremony for the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing – an exceptionally rare foreign trip for the diplomatically isolated leader who is treated in Beijing as a guest of honor.

Heads of state, representatives and delegations from more than 140 countries are expected to attend China’s landmark, two-day diplomatic event beginning Tuesday, which marks 10 years since the start of Xi’s global infrastructure funding drive, and presents the Chinese leader with an opportunity to project Beijing’s growing global ambitions.

The timing of the Beijing hosted forum, coming as Israel signals it may launch a ground invasion of the Hamas-governed Gaza strip, presents Putin with opportunity to shift the global spotlight away from his war in Ukraine, analysts say.

Russia put forward a resolution at the UN Security Council calling for a ceasefire. The motion, which did not condemn Hamas, was supported by China but rejected by the US, United Kingdom, France and Japan on Monday. Russia’s UN envoy on Friday compared the day-after-day shelling of Hamas-controlled Gaza by Israel to the brutal siege of Leningrad during World War II.

At the other end of the historical spectrum, US President Joe Biden this weekend described Hamas’ attack as the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

China has said it will send its envoy to the Middle East to encourage talks and condemned “all acts that harm civilians,” but it has not explicitly targeted that condemnation at Hamas, nor named the group in its statements.

During a flurry of diplomatic calls in recent days, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Israel’s actions have “gone beyond the scope of self-defense.”

Both countries’ statements stand in contrast to that of the US, which has made clear its staunch support for Israel – and signaled it does not feel this is the appropriate moment for a ceasefire.

The conflict will likely feature in Xi and Putin’s upcoming meeting, according to the Kremlin. Russia’s war in Ukraine is also likely to be discussed by the two leaders.