MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
As the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran expands, China is stepping into the crisis with a high-profile diplomatic move.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Beijing is sending a special envoy to the Middle East to help mediate.
MARTIN: We're joined by NPR's China correspondent Jennifer Pak in Beijing for the latest. Jennifer, good morning.
JENNIFER PAK, BYLINE: Good morning.
MARTIN: Could you just start by telling us who this envoy is and what we know about his assignment?
PAK: Well, China today named the envoy it's sending to the Middle East. His name is Zhai Jun, and he's been serving as an envoy to the region since 2019. But the foreign ministry didn't provide more details or say specifically which countries he would be visiting. Now, there are two reasons why China is stepping in. The first is strategic. China has economic interests in the Middle East. It gets part of its oil supply from the region. Here's a Chinese politics expert at the National University of Singapore, Ja Ian Chong.
JA IAN CHONG: They have this long-standing relationship with the Iranian government. They've invested a lot in Iran. Part of that arrangement has to do with getting oil and gas out of Iran.
PAK: And that's not just from Iran. China also buys oil and gas from the rest of the region, he says, and now the conflict is affecting that supply.
The second reason is a diplomatic one. This is a real opportunity for China to portray itself as a, quote, "force for peace." It has been urging all sides to stop military operations and return to the negotiating table.
MARTIN: Do we have any sense of whether that cooperation with Iran extends to military assistance?
PAK: So far, no. And it does raise the question of whether other countries would think it's worthwhile to enter into a strategic partnership with China, given that it doesn't extend to security protection. Analyst Chong offers a different interpretation.
CHONG: China is trying to feel its way around being a great power again and a great power in the contemporary period.
PAK: The big question, he says, is what this envoy can realistically achieve, given that China is not impartial in this. China is way more closely aligned with Iran than with either the U.S. or Israel.
MARTIN: And, Jennifer, how is Beijing making sense of the events of the last few days?
PAK: Well, Beijing is clearly uncomfortable with what's happening in the Middle East and elsewhere - for example, Venezuela earlier this year - especially since from Beijing's standpoint, the Trump administration has been freely talking about regime change and taking out political leaders unilaterally. It's a sign for the Chinese that the world is getting more volatile. So at an important political meeting just this morning, Premier Li Qiang talked about external challenges.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PREMIER LI QIANG: (Speaking Chinese).
PAK: He says multilateralism and free trade are under severe threat. For China, this uncertainty is coming at a bad time. Its economic growth is at its lowest in decades. And this morning, Li Qiang also set a goal for China's annual growth of 4.5- to 5%. So China is clearly preparing its population for slower growth and more uncertainty ahead.
MARTIN: So how is China preparing for this uncertainty?
PAK: Well, China says it will continue to invest and modernize its military for deterrence. It has increased its defense budget by 7% compared to last year. Also, China is doubling down on industrial manufacturing and tech innovation. All of this is about self-reliance so that when the U.S., say, imposes export controls on American high-tech products, China might hurt less.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Jennifer Pak in Beijing. Jennifer, thank you.
PAK: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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