China UNWAVERINGLY practicing PURE Realpolitik meaning UNAPOLOGETIC CHINA FIRST GENERAL POLICY : Part II
A TEXT BY ANGELO GIULIANO
Beijing refuses the Western trap of permanent confrontation, endless wars, and refuses to become the next empire that thrives by dropping bombs or issueing sanctions in the name of “values”.
Strategy over performative toughness. Results over slogans. That is China’s real contribution to international relations. At its core this is classic realpolitik driven by a China-first doctrine. Every decision is measured against whether it strengthens China itself.
The policy is unabashedly China-centric : domestic stability, technological self-reliance, energy security, and uninterrupted development rank far above any external moral theatre. Partners are welcome, but China does not sacrifice its own trajectory for anyone else’s cause.
A small but revealing note on strategic culture : Americans tend to play poker — high stakes, bluffing, all-in-moments. Russians play chess — calculating moves several steps ahead, sacrificing pieces for positional advantage. The Chinese play the game of Go (called weiqi in Chinese). In Go you do not chase a single knockout blow. You quietly occupy territory stone by stone through patient placement.
FOR CHINA, OCCUPYING TERRITORY MEANS ENGAGEMENT THROUGH INVESTMENT, TRADE, AND INFRASTRUCTURE, IT IS SUBTLE, PATIENT, AND CUMULATIVR. CHINA DOES NOT NEED DRAMATIC CONFRONTATIONS; IT SIMPLY FILLS THE EMPTY SPACES OF THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM WITH ITS CAPITAL, ITS PROJECTS, ITS SUPPLY CHAINS, AND ITS RELATIONSHIPS. OVER TIME THE MAP CHANGES WITHOUT A SINGLE DECISIVE BATTLE — THROUGH COOPERATION AND MUTUAL BENEFIT RATHER THAN CONQUEST, STEALING, COERCION, OR WARS.
China refraining from direct intervention does not mean that China stays idle in the conflict. It is actually displaying signs of political courage unheard of in Western capitals.
In the case of Palestine, China has ordered the closure of Israel’s Chengdu consulate on July 1st, 2026. The reasons may be two-fold (several cases of Israel spying on China were recently thwarted in Chengdu and other cities), but Beijing’s disagreement with Israel’s final onslaught on Palestinians is definitely one of them.
China’s imports from Israel have plummeted by 40% since 2023. Tel-Aviv is definitely feeling the sting. Similarly, starting January 2024, Chinese state-owned shipping companies have stopped using the port of Eilat, causing its bankruptcy and closure.
Since October 7, 2023 there were dozens of speeches at the UN by the Chinese representative, Fu Cong, condemning Israel, in words no Western diplomat would ever dare to use. The same condemnation was applied to US-Israel attacks on Iran. Few other countries have stepped up the way China did.
Unlike Western countries, China has dispatched a special envoy to the Middle East to try and bring everybody back to the negotiation table. So the Western outrage about “China’s inaction to save the weak” in Palestine is actually about CHINA NEVER TAKING THE BAIT and not becoming another empire dropping bombs or sanctioning countries around the world to ” protect its values”.
CHINA’s PLACE IS NOT TO PLAY THE WESTERN GAME OF SELECTIVE OUTRAGE AND MILITARY OVERSTRETCH. IT IS TO KEEP BUILDING THE MATERIAL FOUNDATIONS OF A MORE BALANCED WORLD WHILE REFUSING TO BE DRAFTED INTO EVERY CONFLICT THE WEST ITSELF CREATED OR PROLONGED. THAT RESTRAINT IS NOT INDIFFERENCE. IT IS CLARITY ABOUT NATIONAL INTEREST AND ABOUT THE LONG GAME.
THE REASON WHY SO MANY WESTERNERS ARE DEMANDING THAT CHINA PUNISH ISRAEL IN SOME WAY IS THAT THE REAL HISTORICAL STAKEHOLDERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST HAVE WASHED THEIR HANDS WITH PALESTINE. WESTERN AND ARAB COUNTRIES MOSTLY. SO THEY TURN TO CHINA, A FARAWAY SOVEREIGN COUNTRY IN EAST ASIA, WHICH HAS NO SERIOUS BEEF WITH ISRAEL FOR NOW, TO COME TO THE RESCUE OF PALESTINIANS JUST BECAUSE THEIR VERY NEIGHBORS, THEIR BROTHERS, THEIR CO-RELIGIONISTS AND THEIR BLEEDING-HEART WESTERN “FRIENDS” HAVE FAILED TO DO SO, AND HAVE BETRAYED THEM.
The international arena of sovereign states is not some kind of schoolyard where the teacher will come and settle the scores. If these Western pundits and casual commentators sincerely and whole-heartedly feel for the Palestinians, why don’t they rise to the occasion, team up with like-minded, and do what they must ?
Why blame a faraway country, China, which Western commentators were still sneering at just ten years ago and still do not respect to this day ?
Maybe Western critics of China’s Middle East policy can’t solve the problem themselves because of the structure of power distribution in their own country, which they and the generations before them have been unable to defend ?
Or perhaps the social cost of putting their money where their mouth is too high and would disturb their level of comfort ?
The truth that starts to permeate through all this Western outrage on China is that Western pundits and commentators want to hold the moral high ground by simply stating their support to Palestinians, BUT ABOVE ALL THEY WANT TO KEEP THE GOOD TIMES ROLLING WITHOUT DOING ANY OF THE HEAVY WEIGHT-LIFTING NECESSARY TO PUT A STOP TO THE HORROR IN PALESTINE.
THAT IRRESPONSIBLE ATTITUDE HAS WORKED WELL FOR THE BOOMER GENERATION, BUT THAT BOAT HAS SAILED.
China will continue on its own path in international relations : FOCUSED ON DEVELOPMENT, SOVEREIGNTY, AND THE STEADY CONSTRUCTION OF MULTIPOLARITY.
It will not be dragged into the role of the new sheriff. It remains the new kid who simply refuses to play by the old rules of empire.
GUIDED BY REALPOLITIK AND AN UNAPOLOGETIC CHINA-FIRST, CHINA-CENTRIC POLICY, BEIJING WILL KEEP PUTTING CHINESE INTERESTS FIRST — NOTHING MORE, NOTHING LESS.
It will keep offering the carrot, keep engaging even with competitors, keep looking for what unites rather that what divides, and keep playing weiqi : QUIETLY EXPANDING INFLUENCE THROUGH INVESTMENT, TRADE, AND INFRASTRUCTURE IN A WAY THAT BENEFITS PARTNERS AS WELL, BUILDING SHARED PROSPERITY RATHER THAN RELYING ON CONQUEST, STEALING, COERCION, OR WARS.