Chinese tech giants Baidu and Alibaba will no longer show the name Israel on their maps, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday — a move they said reflected Beijing’s vague diplomacy in the region.
The online maps show the borders and cities of Israel, said the newspaper.
But the country itself – unlike other neighboring countries – is not mentioned.
Social media users shared cards that they said confirmed the WSJ’s position.
Jonathan Cheng, WSJ’s China bureau chief, tweeted: “Chinese netizens expressed bewilderment that the name ‘Israel’ does not appear on digital maps from Baidu and Alibaba, an ambiguity that fits Beijing’s vague diplomacy and which contrasts with the general attention to maps. .’
Anti-Semitism is rising online in China, The New York Times reported.
A Chinese state broadcaster recently hosted a discussion page on Weibo arguing that Jews controlled a disproportionate share of American wealth, the newspaper said.
‘If China found it dangerous and problematic to allow anti-Semitic commentary to flourish, the censors would stop it. It is clear that the government is sending the message that it will be tolerated,” said Carice Witte, executive director of SIGNAL Group, an Israeli think tank focused on China.
Russia and China on Wednesday vetoed a US attempt to call on the United Nations Security Council to take action in the Israel-Hamas conflict by calling for a pause in the fighting to allow access to humanitarian aid the protection of civilians and an end to the arming of Hamas and other militants in the conflict. Gaza Strip.
China vetoed the resolution because they wanted to call for a ceasefire – something the United States refused to do.
“The draft does not reflect the world’s strongest calls for a ceasefire, an end to the fighting, and it does not help resolve the issue,” China’s U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun told the council after the vote .
“Right now, a ceasefire is not just a diplomatic term. It means the life and death of many citizens.”
On Monday, the commissioner general of the UN agency known as UNRWA said there is no safe place anywhere in Gaza, warning that basic services are crumbling, medicine, food, water and fuel are running out, and the streets ‘overflowing of sewage, which will very soon cause a huge health hazard.’
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield urged the divided Security Council – which has rejected four resolutions that would have responded to the October 7 Hamas attacks and the ongoing war – to come together, saying “the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is becoming more dire by the day. .’
Stressing that all innocent civilians must be protected, she said the council should call “for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, address the enormous humanitarian needs of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, affirm Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism and remind all actors that international humanitarian law must be respected.’
Benjamin Netanyahu and Chinese leader Xi Jinping meet in 2017. China hesitates to take a side in the war between Israel and Hamas
She echoed President Joe Biden’s calls for humanitarian pauses to get hostages out and aid in, and for safe passage for civilians. But she would not accept the demand for a ceasefire – although the difference between a ‘humanitarian pause’ and a ‘ceasefire’ remains ambiguous.
In a sign of growing American concern over the escalating Palestinian death toll, Thomas-Greenfield told the council Biden repeated that to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday “that while Israel has the right and responsibility to defend its citizens against terrorism, it must do so in a manner consistent with international humanitarian law.”
“The fact that Hamas operates within and under cover of civilian areas creates an additional burden on Israel, but it does not reduce its responsibility to distinguish between terrorists and innocent civilians,” she stressed.
Following the rejection of four resolutions in the 15-member Security Council – one vetoed by the US, one vetoed by Russia and China, and two for failing to secure the minimum nine ‘yes’ votes – the Arab countries went to the UN General Assembly last Friday, where there are no vetoes.
The 193-member world body adopted a resolution calling for humanitarian ceasefires leading to a cessation of hostilities by a vote of 120 to 14 with 45 abstentions.
Now the 10 elected members of the 15-member Security Council are trying to renegotiate a resolution that will not be defeated.
While council resolutions are legally binding, assembly resolutions are not – even though they are an important barometer of world opinion.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan was sharply critical of the Council’s failure to condemn Hamas’ attacks, asking members: “Why are the humanitarian needs of Gazans the only issue, the only issue you are focusing on ?’