Analysis and updates

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s China Brief.

The highlights this week: China picks sides in the Iran-Israel conflict, Chinese President Xi Jinping travels to Kazakhstan, and China flexes its rare-earths leverage over the United States.

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s China Brief.

The highlights this week: China picks sides in the Iran-Israel conflict, Chinese President Xi Jinping travels to Kazakhstan, and China flexes its rare-earths leverage over the United States.

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China has taken a stance on the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict. On Saturday, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Israeli counterpart in a phone call that Israel’s strikes against Iran were “unacceptable” and a “violation of international law.”

Wang offered support to his Iranian counterpart in “safeguarding [Iran’s] national sovereignty, defending its legitimate rights and interests, and ensuring the safety of its people.” Chinese President Xi Jinping echoed these comments in a statement Tuesday. The Chinese response is stronger and more direct than its reaction to the round of conflict between Iran and Israel last fall.

China has mustered its diplomatic resources, including issuing a condemnation of Israel’s latest strikes through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), of which Iran is a member. This prompted a rebuke from India, an SCO member with strong arms-trading ties to Israel that was not consulted on the statement.

Iran has drawn closer to China in recent years, with the two countries cooperating regularly on military exercises and signing an economic, military, and security cooperation agreement in 2021. More than 90 percent of Iranian oil exports go to China—using a system of workarounds to bypass Western banks and shipping services and yuan-denominated transactions to avoid triggering sanctions.

If Israel is successful in disrupting Iran’s oil industry, it could be painful for China. But since Iran is only China’s

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