As Israel carries out a massacre of Palestinians in Gaza, many have rightly focused on the United States’ support for the Israeli state’s war crimes. But as Tariq Kenney-Shawa points out, “The case that Israel simply no longer needs US aid in order to sustain its healthy economy or its monstrous qualitative military edge over all regional threats is clear.” While US military support to Israel remains decisive, the country receives plenty of support from other quarters — including the United States’ main global rival, China.

Though China is sometimes portrayed as an “anti-imperialist” bulwark, it is no ally to Palestinians. It is true that Chinese state media, unlike its Western counterparts, has been more willing to criticize Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. But the Chinese state has not offered meaningful support for the cause of Palestinian liberation: the significant economic links between China and Israel mean that China has a vested interest in defending Israel. China’s long history of triangulating between Israel and Palestine has involved endorsing a strategy of “peacemaking” and “nonalignment” that allows it to maintain friendly relations with Arab countries while deepening ties with Israel. China has in turn drawn on Israeli technology and counterinsurgency methods to repress its own population.