China enabled a potentially major diplomatic breakthrough in the historically tangled and now bloodied Palestinian issue on Tuesday with the consensus reached in the Beijing Declaration. The agreement lays the foundation for reconciliation among 14 rival Palestinian factions. The fact that China brought together the two most dominant groups and bitter rivals – Fatah and Hamas – to the same table is a feather in the cap for Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
One uses the word “potentially”, for West Asian politics and the deeply embedded hostilities and discord that criss-cross the region are a minefield for peacemakers and conflict resolution professionals. Palestine is arguably by far the most difficult and intractable issue in the regional framework.
The core of the Beijing Declaration is a reiteration by all the Palestinian factions to realise national unity under an umbrella, wherein the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) would be acknowledged as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. This decision among the factions is an acknowledgement of the PLO’s primacy in Palestinian politics, and a signal to Hamas.
Further, the declaration reiterated the commitment to establishing an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital, based on relevant UN resolutions and ensuring the integrity of Palestinian territory including the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza.
Currently this declaration is an agreement in principle limited to Palestine’s domestic politics – vulnerable to the shifting sands of the desert. But it is to be cautiously welcomed. Will it pave the way for elections and a national government that can deal with the war and bloodshed that engulfs Palestine, or future reconstruction efforts? These are questions only the Palestinian people and their principal benefactors can answer.
Donning the role of a catalyst for Palestinian factional consensus has been a significant achievement for Beijing. “The key to the Palestinian reconciliation process is to bolster confidence, keep to the right direction, and make incremental progress,” said Wang Yi.
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Palestinian factions agree to end division in pact brokered by China
Palestinian factions agree to end division in pact brokered by China
Beijing’s peace efforts also came into focus in relation to the war in Ukraine on Wednesday when Ukrainian foreign minster Dmytro Kuleba met Wang Yi and said his country would be ready to negotiate directly with Russia, but only when Moscow did so in “good faith”.
While this meeting between the two foreign ministers is a reiteration of Ukraine’s often stated position regarding negotiation with Russia and has not led to any significant outcome, the fact that Kyiv is reaching out to Beijing burnishes China’s image as an unlikely peacemaker.
West Asia has been a success story for China’s diplomacy. This grudging recognition for China’s ability to work quietly under the radar and arrive at a breakthrough was evident in the Saudi-Iran rapprochement deal reached last year.
Brokered by China, the trilateral agreement was preceded by less than a week of secret meetings in Beijing. The global community was taken by surprise at the manner in which the deal was facilitated and the speed with which it was concluded between two bitterly estranged adversaries.
China’s engagement with and assessment of West Asia has been astute and resolute in the decades following the end of the Cold War. Beijing has progressively enhanced its footprint and influence in the region. Iran and Israel, which are at opposite ends of the United States foreign policy spectrum – one an adversary and the other an ally – are illustrative of this trend, wherein China has forged robust relations with both nations to advance its own core interests.
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Where China stands on the Israel-Gaza war
Where China stands on the Israel-Gaza war
In the current instance, while Beijing has extended significant support for the Palestinian cause and refrained from designating Hamas as a terrorist organisation, despite pleas to do so, it has maintained deep economic and trade ties with Tel Aviv. China sees no contradiction in supporting Palestine, even while nurturing its relationship as Israel’s known second largest trading partner after the US. This is unlikely to change and will not be impacted by what happens in Palestine.
A distinctive feature of the Beijing Declaration signed by the Palestinian factions is that it was reached without the involvement of the US. It is evident that China has been seeking to project itself as a credible power in the West Asian region, capable of playing the role of a peace enabler. In some cases, China could now be the preferred interlocutor instead of the US.
Perhaps the 2023 Saudi-Iran rapprochement deal gave China the necessary confidence to play a mediating role in Palestinian domestic politics.
The Beijing Declaration, while promising, needs to be implemented in good faith by the different factions. This has proved elusive in the past. Beijing will have to stay the course and be a patient and perspicacious midwife to ensure peace is delivered and the envisioned goals are realised – perhaps slowly, but inexorably.
Given the many uncertainties about the US, the race for the White House over the next few months and the focus of most major powers with domestic issues, it is encouraging that Beijing is able to play an enabling role in West Asia – however slender and nascent.
With multiple festering wars, the United Nations Security Council in a tenacious logjam and receding hope about global political leadership finding any consensus, the Beijing Declaration is a modest beacon of hope. One hopes this will not be snuffed out due to cynical short-term compulsions. Palestine needs to establish national unity to address the myriad challenges that engulf it.
Commodore C. Uday Bhaskar is director of the Society for Policy Studies (SPS), an independent think tank based in New Delhi
