Jennifer Pak

China has economic interests in the Middle East.

It gets part of its oil supply from the region.

Here's a Chinese politics expert at the National University of Singapore, Zhai Yingchong.

And that's not just from Iran.

China also buys oil and gas from the rest of the region, he says.

And now the conflict is affecting that supply.

The second reason is a diplomatic one.

This is a real opportunity for China to portray itself as a, quote, force for peace.

It has been urging all sides to stop military operations and return to the negotiating table.

So far, no.

And it does raise the question of whether other countries would think it's worthwhile to enter into a strategic partnership with China, given that it doesn't extend to security protection.

Analyst Chong offers a different interpretation.

The big question, he says, is what this envoy can realistically achieve.

Given that China is not impartial in this, China is way more closely aligned with Iran than with either the U.S.

or Israel.

And Jennifer, how is Beijing making sense of the events of the last few days?

Well, Beijing is clearly uncomfortable with what's happening in the Middle East and elsewhere, for example, Venezuela earlier this year.

Especially since from Beijing's standpoint, the Trump administration has been freely talking about regime change and taking out political leaders unilaterally.

It's a sign for the Chinese that the world is getting more volatile.

So at an important political meeting just this morning, Premier Li Qiang talked about external challenges.