Firm for now: China’s support for the Oslo accords
THE ASIA DIALOGUE (Nottingham University blog)
It has become common to hear talk about China as as global ‘rising power’ over the last 15 years. China has of course undergone substantial economic growth and development since the 1980s, and to sustain the trend it has required reliable trade flows and, in particular, reliable energy imports from the Middle East. Between the 1980s and 2004 China went from East Asia’s largest oil producer to the world’s second largest importer, much of it from the Middle East. Consequently, Beijing’s stake in the stability of the region has greatly increased. Among the key issues affecting regional stability is the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which continues to influenced the international politics of the region. With China having become a regional stakeholder and becoming ever closer to global power status, what contribution Beijing have on the conflict?
