SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
Beijing’s precise role is still unknown, but the United States and Iran have indicated that China contributed to the promotion of the Pakistan-mediated ceasefire.
When asked if Beijing had helped persuade Tehran to negotiate, US President Donald Trump responded,” Yes,” telling AFP on Wednesday ( Washington time ).
According to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt,” there were conversations that took place between major amounts of our state and China’s state” about the Iran issue.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, who was contacted by writers on Wednesday to discuss China’s part, remained ambiguous about the government’s actions but claimed Beijing had made an “active work” to promote the parties to put an end to the hostilities.
China has deliberately contributed to the end of the conflict since the battle started, she said. Wang Yi, the foreign minister, made 26 phone calls to his counterparts in the appropriate nations.
She claimed that China’s minister to the Middle East had promoted intervention efforts by traveling through the Gulf place.
How these attempts interact with Iran’s 10-point peace program, which was sent to the White House via Pakistani middlemen, is questionable.
The first round of peace deals in Islamabad on Saturday will be held by Pakistan, who has emerged as a vital mediator in the Iran conflict. However, it has also been carefully cooperating with China throughout the conflict, which might lead to Beijing joining the mediation process.
Beijing and Iran have close economic relationships, and China imports more than 80 % of its oil. Experts have been unsure whether China had the desire or the control to use its ties to the Islamic Republic to put an end to the war because it has been mostly transactional.
Beijing’s efforts to establish itself as a responsible global electricity and broker will be strengthened by its participation in the peace drive. After weeks of intense cross-border battle, researchers have pointed out that China has also been facilitating media relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
China and Pakistan released a five-point plan for restoring peace in the Middle East last week that called for securing shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz and launching peace talks as soon as possible, but it provided no specifics about how this should be accomplished.
Similar efforts by China to promote peace, such as its 12-point plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, have previously been criticized as paper-only proposals that lacked detail and follow-through.
Iranian envoy Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli stated in Beijing on Wednesday that his country wanted China to act as a security guarantor in the region to prevent another attack on Iran.
” We hope the UN Security Council, large countries like China and Russia, as well as mediating nations like Pakistan and Turkey [will ] work together to guarantee peace in the region,” he said.” We hope different sides could guarantee that the US would not resume the war.”
When questioned during Wednesday’s press conference about whether it was considering providing this guarantee, China’s foreign ministry did not respond directly.
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Lisa Visentin is based in Beijing as the North Asia correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. She previously worked as a Canberra-based federal political correspondent. Use X or email to connect.
