Why China condemns strikes on Iran but won’t lend military help

China has condemned the US-Israel strikes on Iran and urged an immediate ceasefire, underlining its concerns about a spiralling conflict and Washington’s bid to topple unfriendly foreign regimes. Even as China speaks up in defence of Iran and calls for the shelling to stop, analysts do not expect Beijing to go further in lending military support to the regime. One lesson that China will draw from both episodes is that the US and Mr Trump are not “all bluster and bluff”, said Assoc Prof Dylan Loh, who researches Chinese foreign policy at NTU. “(Mr Trump) has demonstrated time and again, rightly or wrongly, that he is prepared to use the considerable American power at his disposal to advance US interests,” he said.

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