U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called his Chinese counterpart to urge Beijing to use its influence in the Middle East to deter other states or non-state actors from attacking Israel and expanding its war with Hamas.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Blinken spoke with Foreign Minister Wang Yi before leaving Riyadh, where the top U.S. diplomat is trying to bolster Arab support for Israel.
President Biden’s envoy is on a whirlwind diplomatic tour of the Middle East, visiting Israel, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in the past few days.
The United States is particularly concerned about the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah. Open an additional front In the war on Israel’s northern border. China has close ties with Iran and helped Tehran reach a landmark diplomatic détente with Saudi Arabia earlier this year.
Miller said Saturday’s call with Wang, which lasted about an hour, was driven in part by the Biden administration’s diplomatic engagement with Chinese leader Xi Jinping over the past few months.
These include Blinken’s visit to Beijing in June, reopening lines of communication with China after months of tensions.
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