The Communist Party of China, in conjunction with its allies in Pakistan, published a “peace proposal” Tuesday to end the war between Iran and America, offering vague suggestions such as “ceasing hostilities” and “initiating peace talks as soon as possible,” ignoring that the warring sides have confirmed they are in communication already.
The Chinese government has struggled to maintain relevance in the context of the conflict, which began on February 28 with President Donald Trump announcing Operation Epic Fury and the elimination of Iranian dictator Ali Khamenei. A close ally of Iran’s, which prompted China to facilitate its membership into the anti-American BRICS coalition, Beijing has vacillated between condemning the United States for engaging Iran militarily and gently suggesting that Iran’s disruptions of commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which disproportionately hurt China, should cease. China also enjoys friendly and financially beneficial relationships with Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – countries that Iran has bombed in retaliation for Operation Epic Fury.
In early March, the Chinese government sent its Middle East envoy, Zhai Jun, to tour several relevant countries and listen to their grievances about the war. Zhai’s shuttle diplomacy did not appear to have any meaningful impact on the hostilities.
In a new attempt to seize the reins of diplomacy on the issue, China and Pakistan jointly published their purported peace plan on Tuesday. The state-run Xinhua News Agency listed the five points in the proposal as: “immediately ceasing hostilities, initiating peace talks as soon as possible, ensuring the safety of non-military targets, ensuring the safety of navigation, and safeguarding the primacy of the UN Charter.”
“The initiative can be summed up in three words: cease, talk, and ensure,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters on Wednesday, describing China’s peace proposal. “One month into the conflict, its spillover effect continues to spread, dealing an increasingly severe blow to regional and global peace and stability, and causing more extensive disruptions to the stability of global energy supply, unimpeded operation of industrial and supply chains, and global economic growth.”
China, as one of Iran’s top oil clients, is currently believed to be taking the brunt of those “extensive disruptions to the stability of global energy supply.” Mao nonetheless claimed that following the Chinese peace plan was in the “common interest of regional countries and the wider world.”
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi chose to emphasize in comments on Tuesday not China’s attempt to insert itself in the Iran conflict, but its close relationship with the Islamist government of Pakistan.
“The timely strategic communication between China and Pakistan on major international and regional issues and the deepening of strategic coordination embody the essence of the China-Pakistan community with a shared future,” Wang asserted in comments shared by the Global Times. “China supports and looks forward to Pakistan playing a unique and important role in de-escalating tensions and restoring peace talks.”
Pakistan has reportedly taken on a leadership role in mediation, one typically reserved for countries such as Qatar and Oman that have now been caught under Iranian fire. The Pakistan government claimed last week that it had relayed a 15-point peace proposal from America to Iran, which Tehran later asserted it had seen but not responded to. It is not clear what substantial addition to the conversation the Chinese-led peace proposal would add to the negotiations already underway.
At press time, there is no evidence that either Iran or the United States – or Israel, which is engaging in its own military operations to disable the Iranian terror state’s ability to threaten its people – is embracing or has in any way engaged with the Chinese “peace plan.” Contrary to the peace plan’s presumptions, both the Iranian and American side have confirmed that they are in diplomatic talks, though Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has insisted that his direct contact with President Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff does not mean the countries are in “negotiations.”
“I receive messages from [US special envoy Steve] Witkoff directly, as before, and this does not mean that we are in negotiations,” he told the Qatari news agency Al Jazeera. “There is no truth to the claim of negotiations with any party in Iran. All messages are conveyed through the Foreign Ministry or received by it, and there are communications between security agencies.”
President Trump personally has also repeatedly signaled that he is seeking a ceasefire that leads to an end to hostilities, but only under conditions that ensure that another conflict does not emerge in the near future. On Wednesday morning, Trump claimed that Tehran has suggested the possibility of a ceasefire.
“Iran’s New Regime President, much less Radicalized and far more intelligent than his predecessors, has just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE!” Trump wrote on his website, Truth Social. “We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!”
Trump similarly claimed this week that Iran is now under a “new, and more reasonable regime” following the elimination of Khamenei and dozens of other senior officials, leaving Foreign Minister Araghchi and President Masoud Pezeshkian as the most visible members of the regime. Trump has previously conditioned a peace deal on the opening of commerce in the Strait of Hormuz.