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Time of India
13 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
China helpless as Israel-Iran war craters regional leverage, say analysts
Live Events 'Strategic' friendship 'Little leverage' (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel China has been able to do little more than stand back and watch as war between its key partner Iran and Israel harms its hard-fought leverage in the Middle East, analysts has sought to frame itself as a mediator in the region, facilitating a 2023 rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran and portraying itself as a more neutral actor in the Israel-Palestinian conflict than its rival the United its position as the largest purchaser of Iranian oil has served as a crucial lifeline for Tehran as its economy is battered by crippling international as Israel and Iran engaged in an unprecedented exchange of attacks and the United States struck key targets on Iranian soil in the past week, Beijing has offered little beyond calls for de-escalation."Beijing has offered Tehran no real help -- just rhetoric that paints China as the principled alternative while it stays safely on the sidelines," Craig Singleton, senior China fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, told he said, "sticks to rhetoric -- condemnations, UN statements, talk of 'dialogue' -- because over-promising and under-delivering would spotlight its power-projection limits"."The result is a conspicuously thin response that underscores how little real heft China brings to Iran when the shooting starts."China -- alongside its "no limits" partner Russia -- has long been a key backer of Iran, deepening ties in the wake of the United States' withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal in Xi Jinping described relations as "strategic" in a 2023 meeting with Iran's then-president Ebrahim Raisi, and backed Tehran in its fight against "bullying".Liu Qiang, a retired Chinese Senior Colonel, was even more explicit in an article on the academic website Aisixiang this month."Iran's survival is a matter of China's national security," said the director of the Academic Committee of the Shanghai International Center for Strategic he insisted, must take "proactive measures" in light of the recent war to ensure that Tehran "will not be broken by the military conflict" or "jointly strangled by the US and Israel".Analysts say Beijing's ties with Tehran are central to its efforts to ensure a regional counterbalance against both the United States and Israel as well as the Gulf States."Iran fits into Beijing's broader campaign to counterbalance US-led hegemony and to a lesser extent NATO encroachment," Tuvia Gering, non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub, told efforts have gone into overdrive following blows to other "Axis of resistance" players since the start of the Gaza war -- the collapse of Bashar Al-Assad's rule in Syria and the degradation of Hamas and Hezbollah in fighting with Israel."Beijing has sought to prevent a total unravelling of Iran's regional role," Gering said, pointing to Chinese efforts to resurrect the nuclear has condemned recent US strikes on Iran and called for parties in the region, "especially Israel", to it has called for a political solution to help a declared ceasefire last month between India and Pakistan saw Beijing furnish its long-time allies in Islamabad with state-of-the-art military don't expect China to extend the same courtesy to its comrades in Tehran, given the risk of direct confrontation with the United States."Iran needs more than statements at the UN or missile components," Andrea Ghiselli, a lecturer at the University of Exeter, told AFP."It needs air defences and fighter jets, which are things that China could provide but would require much time to be put into use -- not to mention the likely extremely negative reaction by Israel and, especially now that is directly involved, the US," he United States has urged China to use its influence on Iran to help deter its leaders from shutting down the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for oil and Ahmed Aboudouh, an associate fellow with the Chatham House Middle East and North Africa Programme, was sceptical that Beijing has the leverage."China's position in the Middle East after this conflict" has been badly affected, he told AFP."Everybody in the Middle East understands that China has little leverage, if any, to play any role in de-escalation."
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Europe's lithium quest hampered by China and lack of cash
Live Events Europe's ambition to be a world player in decarbonised transportation arguably depends on sourcing lithium abroad, especially in South the bloc's broader energy security and climate goals could depend on securing a steady supply of the key mineral, used in batteries and other clean energy supply Europe has run into a trio of obstacles: lack of money, double-edged regulations and competition from China, analysts told has a major head currently produces more than three-quarters of batteries sold worldwide, refines 70 percent of raw lithium and is the world's third-largest extractor behind Australia and Chile, according to 2024 data from the United States Geological gain a foothold, Europe has developed a regulatory framework that emphasises environmental preservation, quality job creation and cooperation with local has also signed bilateral agreements with about 15 countries, including Chile and Argentina, the world's fifth-largest lithium too often it fails to deliver when it comes to investment, say experts."I see a lot of memoranda of understanding, but there is a lack of action," Julia Poliscanova, director of electric vehicles at the Transport and Environment (T&E) think tank, told AFP."More than once, on the day that we signed another MoU, the Chinese were buying an entire mine in the same country."The investment gap is huge: China spent $6 billion on lithium projects abroad from 2020 to 2023, while Europe barely coughed up a billion dollars over the same period, according to data compiled by T& the same time, the bottleneck in supply has tightened: last year saw a 30 percent increase in global demand for lithium, according to a recent report from the International Energy Agency (IEA)."To secure the supply of raw materials, China is actively investing in mines abroad through state-owned companies with political support from the government," the IEA Belt and Road Initiative funnelled $21.4 billion into mining beyond its shores in 2024, according to the meanwhile, is "lagging behind in investment levels in these areas", said Sebastian Galarza, founder of the Centre for Sustainable Mobility in Santiago, Chile."The lack of a clear path for developing Europe's battery and mining industries means that gap will be filled by other actors."In Africa, for example, Chinese demand has propelled Zimbabwe to become the fourth-largest lithium producer in the world."The Chinese let their money do the talking," said Theo Acheampong, an analyst at the European Council on Foreign 2035, all new cars and vans sold in the European Union must produce zero carbon emissions, and EU leaders and industry would like as much as possible of that market share to be sourced year, just over 20 percent of new vehicles sold in the bloc were electric."Currently, only four percent of Chile's lithium goes to Europe," noted Stefan Debruyne, director of external affairs at Chilean private mining company SQM."The EU has every opportunity to increase its share of the battery industry."But Europe's plans to build dozens of battery factories have been hampered by fluctuating consumer demand and competition from Japan (Panasonic), South Korea (LG Energy Solution, Samsung) and, above all, China (CATL, BYD).The key to locking down long-term lithium supply is closer ties in the so-called "lithium triangle" formed by Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, which account for nearly half of the world's reserves, analysts encourage cooperation with these countries, European actors have proposed development pathways that would help establish electric battery production in Latin EU regulations would allow Latin America to "reconcile local development with the export of these raw materials, and not fall into a purely extractive cycle", said Juan Vazquez, deputy head for Latin America and the Caribbean at the OECD Development it is still unclear whether helping exporting countries develop complete supply chains makes economic sense, or will ultimately tilt in Europe's favour."What interest do you have as a company in setting up in Chile to produce cathodes, batteries or more sophisticated materials if you don't have a local or regional market to supply?" said Galarza."Why not just take the lithium, refine it and do everything in China and send the battery back to us?"Pointing to the automotive tradition in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, Galarza suggested an answer."We must push quickly towards the electrification of transport in the region so we can share in the benefits of the energy transition," he the road ahead looks vehicles were only two percent of new car sales in Mexico and Chile last year, six percent in Brazil and seven percent in Colombia, according to the small nation of Costa Rica stood out as the only nation in the region where EVs hit double digits, at 15 percent of new car sales.
