The demolition of Gaza by the Israeli army also threatens to blow up the floodgates that still separate several regional and international conflicts. In order to avoid an escalation that would lead to an even greater conflagration, the United States and China closed a two-day marathon of negotiations this weekend in Thailand.
The American National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, as well as the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, together with their respective teams, have locked themselves in Bangkok for twelve hours, spread between Friday and Saturday, with a very busy agenda, which would have included North Korea, Taiwan or Ukraine.
However, the star issue would have been the American request for Chinese mediation against Iran, so that Ansar Allah - the Shiite militia better known as "the Houthis", which governs three quarters of the population of Yemen - stops harassing the navigation in the Red Sea. Although the Houthis claim that their only objective is ships associated with Israel, the truth is that they have raised the price of all insurance and there are few shipping companies that dare to enter the Suez Canal, opting for a very long detour around the cape. of Good Hope. Washington has recalled that China should be the first interested in keeping the supply lines of goods and hydrocarbons open in the region.
Beijing, which a year ago managed to make peace between Saudi Arabia and Iran, says it has passed the message to Tehran. However, the incidents have continued, with a fire extinguished on a British oil tanker on Friday.
Wang has repeated that the most important thing for China is that the US honors its recognition of "one China", which goes poorly, according to him, with arming Taiwan to the teeth. Although the result of the January elections in the former Japanese colony has kept swords raised, it has not aggravated the already existing tension. Even though, this same weekend, Taipei reported that several combat aircraft from the People's Republic of China had crossed what it almost unilaterally considers to be the airspace of the Republic of China.
In Beijing, it is also recognized that an eventual return of Donald Trump could mean a worsening of tension on the self-governed Chinese island, as compensation for a more conciliatory stance with Russia.
Washington, on the other hand, follows the renewed fight between Seoul and Pyongyang as closely as Beijing. It should be said that the meeting in Bangkok coincided with an official visit to North Korea by the Chinese vice foreign minister.
Chinese diplomacy has already demonstrated its expertise this month in cooling one of the most unexpected side effects of the new invasion of Gaza. The Iranian bombing of Iranian-Beloch militias in Pakistan, immediately responded by Islamabad with the bombing of Pakistani-Beloch secessionists in Iranian territory. Beijing, which maintains excellent relations with both Muslim countries, urged them to immediately put aside their differences and stop the escalation.
China's mediation was also key, fifteen days ago, to calm the waters between the Burmese military junta and several of the narco-guerrillas that dispute control of the territory.
This weekend, the Chinese Foreign Ministry described the discussions in Bangkok with US officials as "frank, substantial and fruitful", as well as its hope that the commitments expressed by Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden in San Francisco, last November, are translated into reality. Likewise, both parties have stated that they are coordinating a telephone interview between both leaders for this spring, when it could be preceded by a new visit to Beijing by the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.
The latest meeting is part of, according to the White House, "the effort to keep the lines of communication open and manage the rivalry responsibly, so that it does not become a conflict or confrontation." Likewise, both Washington and Beijing celebrate that a period of practical lack of communication between their armed forces that had lasted more than a year has been overcome.
A Biden administration official said Sullivan and Wang also discussed the upcoming launch of an anti-narcotics task force. Washington values China's recent dismantling of some Chinese suppliers of fentanyl active ingredients, which were imported by American drug traffickers.
The choice of Bangkok as "neutral" ground by both giants is interesting, considering that, during the Cold War, Thailand was one of the closest allies of the United States, at the same level as Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore or the island of Taiwan.
Both the current government, with a civilian at the head, and the previous government, dominated for nine years by a general, have made every effort to not allow themselves to be dragged into a confrontation between powers. In fact, this Sunday, Wang Yi signed a bilateral visa exemption agreement between China and Thailand in Bangkok, which will come into force on March 1. For Thailand, with a sluggish economy, the recovery of Chinese tourism is considered key, which is very far from pre-pandemic figures.
However, in its desire for equidistance, Bangkok has also ruled out the construction of the canal that China dreamed of. A macro project that would split Thailand at its narrowest point - in the image of the Panama Canal or the Suez Canal - joining its coast of the Andaman Sea with that of the Gulf of Siam. Beijing's strategic nightmare is the strangulation of its commercial navy - and its hydrocarbon suppliers - in the Strait of Malacca, in the event of an escalation of tension with the US. The port of Changi, in Singapore, serves in practice naval base of the US Navy.
Although Bangkok proposes the construction of two deep-water ports on both coasts, linked by a land corridor - road and rail - only logistics companies have so far shown any interest. In any case, Beijing's disappointment is not complete, since, as was reaffirmed this weekend, the project to connect Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok with China, via Laos, by high-speed train, continues.
On the other hand, as a green shoot in the region, the US has managed to get Vietnam to turn the page on the war, for the sake of an increasingly closer economic relationship.
