After China brokered a Saudi Arabia-Iran détente last year, expectations arose that it could parlay its economic clout into a bigger diplomatic role on the Palestine-Israel issue.

Chinese officials have criticised Israel for going beyond self-defence in its war in Gaza, killing more than 36,000 Palestinians and making the enclave uninhabitable. Former Chinese government adviser Huiyao Wang, president of the Center for China and Globalization, says that the United States’ role in the conflict has been “incompetent”.

Wang talks to host Steve Clemons about how China’s approach to peace in the Middle East differs from the Western approach.