Why China's mediation model is trusted

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (C), also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, poses for a group picture with members of the Palestinian factions during the signing of the Beijing Declaration in Beijing, China, July 23, 2024. [Photo/Chinese Foreign Ministry]

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At China's mediation, a total of 14 Palestine factions including the leaders of rival groups Fatah and Hamas signed the Beijing Declaration on Tuesday.

Having been at loggerheads for years, the factions have agreed to end their divisions and strengthen Palestinian unity. With the death toll still growing in Gaza, the internal reconciliation of Palestine is vital for a postwar future and the realization of a "two-state solution," thus paving the way for lasting peace in the region.

For decades, the Middle East has been dubbed as a "powder keg" as a result of complex religious, ethnic, and territorial disputes, as well as interventions by external forces. Against this backdrop, the China-mediated Declaration has demonstrated the country's responsibility as a major power and its determination for global peace and stability.

Saudi Arabia's Al Arabiya TV reported China's diplomatic move as "remarkable" and "admirable." The dialogue in Beijing shows that China's role as a major power on the global arena has been recognized by Palestinian factions, Lebanon's Elnashra news website commented.

In sharp contrast to certain Western powers adept at using the Israel-Palestine conflict as a tool for geopolitical gains in the Middle East, China stands on the side of peace and human conscience, prioritizing people's lives over geopolitical calculations. To this end, the Chinese government has been actively creating platforms and a positive environment for dialogues and consultations among factions.

This is not the first time that Beijing has offered opportunities for Palestinian factions to talk for reconciliation. In April, Fatah and Hamas representatives – at the invitation of China – came to Beijing and held in-depth and candid talks on advancing intra-Palestine reconciliation. Although no agreement was reached back then, the dialogue paved the way for Tuesday's Beijing Declaration.

"China can make a significant contribution to the peace process, given its vision for resolving conflicts in the world, based on finding fair solutions," Samer Khair Ahmed, a Jordanian writer and expert on Arab-China relations said, adding that "the Palestinian issue needs this Chinese contribution, which achieves balance and opens up real opportunities for establishing peace."

Just as China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed, on the question of Palestine, China stands on the side of peace, justice, international law, shared aspirations of the majority of countries in the world, and human conscience.

This is why China is trusted and its diplomatic mediation model has repeatedly turned out to be effective in addressing faraway conflicts. Last year, China brokered a détente between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which eventually resulted in the two previous hostile powers' decision to restore diplomatic relations.

Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, presides over the closing meeting of the talks between a Saudi delegation and an Iranian delegation in Beijing, capital of China, March 10, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

Since then, the Middle East has been witnessing a wave of reconciliation: Syria returned to the League of Arab States; Qatar, Syria, Iran and Türkiye have restored diplomatic ties or normalized their relations respectively with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, with Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, with Sudan and with Egypt… The Beijing Declaration among Palestinian factions shows that the reconciliation wave is still continuing.

Under the UN framework, China has been dedicated to global peace and stability. Unlike certain countries taking local people's wellbeing as the leverage for their expanded clout and eventually hegemonic status in the region, China is more concerned about real peace than fulfilling the so-called "power vacuum" in the Middle East.

The clinch of the Beijing Declaration clearly shows that regional countries have the wisdom to choose for the best of their fates.