Translated interview: War on the chessboard or storm in the teapot?
Wu Bingbing from Peking University on the Middle East today
This is a translation of a long interview with Wu Bingbing, the director of the Arabic Department, School of Foreign Languages at Peking University. It was published on November 6; you can find the original Chinese here. Hat-tip to Tuvia Gering for sharing it with me - if you don’t subscribe to his Discourse Power Substack you have to fix that right now.
Professor Wu is one of the top Middle East specialists in China and whenever I get the chance to talk with him I learn a lot.
Wu Bingbing: "War on the chessboard" or "Storm in the teapot"?
Club summary: Wu Bingbing, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at Peking University, accepted an exclusive interview with "Beijing Dialogue" and expressed his views on the latest changes in the situation in the Middle East.
Wu Bingbing pointed out that Israel adopts the strategy of "eliminating" its opponents, while Iran adheres to the strategy of "long-term consumption + development". The current situation in the Middle East is like a "storm in a teapot." Although local conflicts are fierce, the overall situation still maintains a "delicate balance."
Regarding the long-term solution to the Palestinian-Israeli issue, Wu Bingbing believes that relying on military means is not feasible and should be solved through political channels and means. He pointed out that China's efforts in the Middle East not only focus on resolving current conflicts, but are also based on promoting long-term peace and stability in the entire region.