Iran being set back on its heels by Israel means “nothing is off the table” for China and its military advances, according to one foreign policy expert.
“The Chinese… they’re losing their proxy, Iran. Iran has been accomplishing China’s foreign policy goals for quite some time. And China’s Middle East policy is now in disarray,” Gatestone Institute senior fellow Gordon Chang said on “Varney & Co.” Friday.
“This is a point where China is suffering a terrible loss in the Middle East,” he continued. “It is not going to take that lying down, and it’s probably going to get Iran or some other party to strike us.”
Overnight Friday, Israel Defense Forces launched a sweeping strike on Iran following months of attempted, and seemingly failed, nuclear negotiations.
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The strikes were heard in the Iranian capital of Tehran, as Israel said it launched “Operation Rising Lion” to target their nuclear and missile infrastructure. A state of emergency has been declared across Israel as the country braces for an Iranian response.
“China was supporting the attacks on Israel across the board with elevated commodity purchases. Remember, China has taken more than 90% of Iran’s exports of crude oil, but also weapons support,” Chang noted.
“Hamas, Houthi militia, Hezbollah, all of them have large quantities of Chinese weapons. Iran’s weapons are made with China’s computer chips.”
President Donald Trump promised that Israel’s next round of attacks on Iran would be “even more brutal” in a Truth Social post pressuring Iran to cut a deal on its nuclear activity.
“There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end,” Trump said.
The U.S. and Iran were set to have another round of nuclear talks scheduled for Sunday in Muscat, Oman, while the two sides remain on opposite ends over whether Iran should have the capacity to enrich uranium at all, even for civil energy purposes. Iran, however, reportedly pulled out of the talks indefinitely in light of Israel’s strikes.
“There’s a lot of evidence that Xi Jinping has lost control of the Chinese military, and he’s in increasing trouble with civilians at the top of the party,” Chang pointed out. “So this right now is anyone’s guess as to how the Chinese would view it, but nothing is off the table.”
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Fox News’ Morgan Phillips and breaking news staff contributed to this report.
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