DW, a German based broadcaster, reported on its Chinese website that China's and Russia's leaders had a phone call on June 19, 2025, after Israel launched an unprecedented violent attack on Iran over the past week and Iran retaliated.
It seems that both sides were using the incident to clarify their views and to position themselves as mediators in the conflict, however for different reasons.
One year later later, on June 21, 2026, Chinese media reported the temporary and unprecedented walk-out of the Iranian delegation from negotiations in Switzerland as being caused by an 'anonymous' phone warning from some 'Russian observer'. The Chinese report hinted at a Russian 'overreaction' when sensing some security problem. It describes the alleged Russian interference as baseless.
China obviously prefers a more noiseless way to interfere in the matter by putting forward four propositions to solve the conflict. As China's economy is dependent on an unhinderded flow of products and resources, Xi JinPing's intentions should be different from Russia's.
Russia's War on Ukraine is already costing a high price and, in the longer term, damaging Putin's public estimatimation among his Russian subjects. Illegal and dangerous oil transports by Russia's rotten 'shadow fleet' and undercover operations targeting the infrastructure in Germany and its neighbours in the East, have left the impression of Russia as a rogue state.
德国之声中文网在以色列一周来对伊朗发动前所未有的猛烈袭击、伊朗进行报复性回击后，中俄领导人在周四（2025年6月19日）通了电话。
据法新社报道，俄罗斯总统助理尤里·乌沙科夫（Yuri Ushakov）在通话后对记者表示，普京和习近平“强烈谴责以色列的行动”。他说，莫斯科和北京认为，结束敌对行动“应完全通过政治和外交手段来实现”。
中国方面也对这次通话进行了报道，指出通话重点是“就中东局势交换意见”。不过，中国官媒新华社的报道中没有出现“强烈谴责以色列”的字眼。
新华社的报道称，习近平阐述了中方的原则立场，提出四点主张。首先是“推动停火止战是当务之急”，“冲突当事方尤其是以色列应当尽快停火，防止局势轮番升级，坚决避免战争外溢”。另外三点主张则分别是“保障平民安全”、“开启对话谈判”和强调“国际社会促和努力不可或缺”。
在中国官媒的报道中，习近平没有直接提及美国，但表示“特别是对冲突当事方有特殊影响的大国要为推动局势降温作出努力，而不是相反”。
According to Agence France-Presse, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters after the call that Putin and Xi Jinping strongly condemned Israel's actions. Moscow and Beijing believe that ending hostilities should be done entirely through political and diplomatic means, he said.
China also reported on the call, pointing out that the focus of the call was “ to exchange views on the situation in the Middle East ”. However, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency is reporting that the words “ strongly condemn Israel ” do not appear.
Xinhua reported that Xi Jinping elaborated on China's principled position and put forward four propositions. The first is that promoting a ceasefire and stopping the war is a top priority. The parties to the conflict, especially Israel, should cease fire as soon as possible to prevent the situation from escalating in turn and resolutely avoid the spillover of war. The other three propositions are “ to ensure the safety of civilians, ” to open dialogue and negotiation, and “ to emphasize that international efforts to promote peace are indispensable.
In reports from Chinese state media, Xi Jinping did not directly mention the United States, but said that especially major countries that have a special impact on the parties to the conflict must make efforts to cool down the situation, rather than the opposite.
What has changed since 2025, that is China's view on Israel:
