Does China welcome—or dread—an Iran-Israel war?
It wants American interests to suffer, but not at any price
LAST MONTH, as tensions escalated between Iran and Israel, China helped organise a Chinese film festival in the Iranian capital, Tehran. It opened with a blockbuster: “The Battle at Lake Changjin”. The drama portrays the heroism of Chinese soldiers who fought against American troops in the Korean war of 1950-53. “Strike one punch to avoid a hundred,” Mao Zedong is shown exhorting his colleagues. Nationalist bloggers in China crowed about the film’s showing. “Iran cannot sit idly by, even if the United States is behind Israel!” wrote a widely read scribe.
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This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “An interested party”
From the October 19th 2024 edition
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Trump, trade and feeding China’s pigs
As a trade war looms, China looks to cut its reliance on America
Helping America’s hawks get inside the head of Xi Jinping
China’s leader is a risk-taker. How far will he go in confronting America?
Snuffing out the flame of freedom in Hong Kong
Dozens of pro-democracy activists are thrown into jail for up to a decade
China’s greatest dumpling run
A big gathering of young cyclists is ended by officials
A spate of horrific car-rammings shakes China
They are known as “revenge on society” attacks
Mega-polluter China believes it is a climate saviour
It accounts for almost 40% of global investment in clean energy
