A report by United Press International recently indicated that China is virtually encouraging Iran to attack Israel. This comes as no surprise, seeing that Beijing not only condemned the recent killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, but also made it clear that it “supports Tehran’s defense of its sovereignty, security and national dignity.”

China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, told his Iranian counterpart, acting foreign minister Ali Bagheri, over the phone:

China firmly opposes and strongly condemns the assassination, viewing it as a severe violation of the basic principles of international relations, a serious infringement on Iran’s sovereignty, security and dignity and a direct disruption of the Gaza cease-fire negotiations, impacting regional peace and stability.

Any attack on Israel by Iran obviously has nothing to do with self-defense. It was Iran-backed Hamas that barbarically attacked Israel in the first place, and it is Israel that is fighting a defensive war for its own survival. Iran and its proxies have been brazen about their goal of annihilating the Jewish State.

Contrary to what Wang Yi told Ali Bagheri, Iran is hardly a representative of “peace” in the region. It can better be characterized as the head of the snake that destabilizes the region. Nor does it operate from a place of “dignity.” Savagery and deceit better characterize it.

Communist China is politically anti-Israel, as it is anti-American and anti-Western, despite its complex economic ties and cooperation with the West. China is loyal only to its self-interests and goal of global dominance.

Pure self-interest characterizes the China-Iran relationship. In 2021, China and Iran signed a $400 billion accord, creating a power shift that Forbes described as threatening Western interests. The deal incorporated China’s ongoing Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), “spending billions in infrastructure investment with an eye on long term influence and economic and security hegemony.”

Iran holds the world’s second largest (behind Russia) gas reserves, and China is Iran’s largest trade partner. China has also provided the Islamic Republic full membership in the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). In turn, China sees an opportunity for greater Middle East influence. The Iranian elites view China as “a rising power, while they think Russia and Europe are declining powers.”

The two countries each possess a foundational goal for global dominance, and both will remain friends of mutual convenience in pursuit of that aim — while China is more than willing to sacrifice Israel as collateral damage in the process.