When China helped negotiate a peace deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia in 2023, it hailed the breakthrough as a victory for Chinese diplomacy and a sign that America’s chief geopolitical rival had emerged as a major power broker in the Middle East.

2023年帮助伊朗和沙特阿拉伯谈判达成和平协议时，北京将这一突破誉为中国外交的胜利，表明美国的主要地缘政治对手已经成为中东地区重要的权力掮客。

But as President Trump openly ponders deploying American forces to join Israel in attacking Iran, the limits of China’s clout in the region are coming into focus.

但随着特朗普总统公开考虑部署美国军队，与以色列一起攻击伊朗，中国在该地区影响力的局限性也逐渐凸显。

China has much to lose from a runaway conflict. Half of the country’s oil imports move in tankers through the Strait of Hormuz on Iran’s southern coast. And Beijing has long counted on Tehran, its closest partner in the region, to push back against American influence.

一场失控的冲突会让中国损失惨重。中国一半的石油进口通过油轮，经由伊朗南部海岸的霍尔木兹海峡运输。长期以来，北京一直指望其在该地区最亲密的伙伴德黑兰来抵制美国的影响力。

But despite those strategic interests, China, which has little sway over the Trump administration, is unlikely to come to Iran’s defense militarily, especially if the United States gets involved.

但是，尽管有这些战略利益，对特朗普政府几乎没有影响力的中国不太可能在军事上保护伊朗，尤其是在美国介入的情况下。

“The reality is they don’t actually have the capability to insert Chinese forces to defend Iran’s installations,” said Zack Cooper, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. “What they would prefer to do is very quietly provide some material support, some rhetorical support and maybe some humanitarian aid.”

“现实是，他们实际上没有能力派遣中国军队来保卫伊朗的设施，”华盛顿美国企业研究所高级研究员扎克·库珀说。“他们更愿意做的是低调地提供一些物质支持，一些口头上的支持，也许还有一些人道主义援助。”

Though China favors stability in the Middle East, it could also gain if the United States gets roped into a prolonged war there, which might divert American troops, ships and other military resources away from Asia.

尽管希望中东保持稳定，但如果美国被拖入一场旷日持久的战争，中国也会受益，因为这可能会使美国的军队、舰船和其他军事资源从亚洲转移出去。

Whether Mr. Trump decides to strike Iran will offer lessons for Beijing that could shape its own geopolitical strategy. China will be trying to understand Mr. Trump’s approach to foreign policy and his willingness to use force. The outcome could influence Beijing’s assessment of whether the United States would come to the defense of Taiwan, the self-governed island that Beijing claims, should China decide to invade it.

无论特朗普是否决定打击伊朗，都将为北京提供可能影响其地缘政治战略的教训。中国将试图了解特朗普的外交政策方针，以及他使用武力的意愿。其结果可能会影响中国政府对美国是否会在中国决定入侵台湾的情况下保卫台湾的评估（台湾是中国声称拥有主权的自治岛屿）。

Despite China’s close relationship with Iran, its rhetoric about the current conflict has been strikingly measured at the highest levels. After its top leader, Xi Jinping, called for a cease-fire during a call with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Thursday, a summary of the call released by the Chinese government did not overtly criticize Israel for violating Iran’s sovereignty.

尽管与伊朗关系密切，中国最高层对当前冲突的言辞却十分谨慎。中国最高领导人习近平周四与俄罗斯总统普京通话时呼吁停火，但中国政府发布的通话摘要并未公开批评以色列侵犯伊朗主权。

Mr. Xi also refrained from directly urging the United States not to attack Iran, saying only that the “international community, especially major powers that have a special influence on the parties to the conflict, should make efforts to promote the cooling of the situation, rather than the opposite.”

习近平也没有直接敦促美国不要攻击伊朗，只是说“国际社会特别是对冲突当事方有特殊影响的大国要为推动局势降温作出努力，而不是相反”。

中国最高领导人习近平并未明确批评以色列侵犯伊朗主权。

When China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, called his counterpart in Israel, he expressed Beijing’s opposition to Israel’s attacks, according to the Chinese summary of the call. But he stopped short of saying that China “condemns” them, as he had in a call with Iran.

据中方的通话摘要，中国最高外交官王毅致电以色列外长，表达了北京对以色列袭击的反对。但他没有像他在与伊朗通话时所说的那样说中国“谴责”以色列。

In another call, with the foreign minister of Oman, Mr. Wang said that “we cannot sit idly by and watch the regional situation slide into an unknown abyss,” according to a Chinese government statement. But it is unclear what, if any, specific efforts China has made to find a diplomatic solution. In any case, Israel would likely be skeptical of China’s neutrality as a mediator because of its alignment with Iran and engagement with Hamas, the Palestinian ally of Iran that attacked Israel in October 2023.

根据中国政府的声明，在与阿曼外长的另一次通话中，王毅说，“不能坐视地区局势滑向未知的深渊。”但目前尚不清楚中国是否为寻求外交解决方案做出了具体努力。无论如何，以色列可能会对中国作为调解人的中立态度持怀疑态度，因为中国与伊朗结盟，并与伊朗的巴勒斯坦盟友、在2023年10月袭击以色列的哈马斯接触。

China’s efforts, at least in public, have been focused on evacuating more than 1,000 of its citizens from Israel and Iran.

中国的努力，至少是公开的努力，都集中在从以色列和伊朗撤离1000多名中国公民上。

“Beijing is scrambling to keep up with the rapid pace of events and is prioritizing looking after Chinese citizens and assets in the region rather than any sort of broader diplomatic initiative,” said Julian Gewirtz, who was a senior China policy official at the White House and the State Department during President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s administration.

“北京正在努力跟上事态的快速发展，并优先考虑照顾在该地区的中国公民和资产，而不是任何更广泛的外交倡议，”拜登总统执政期间在白宫和国务院担任中国政策高级官员的朱利安·格维茨说。

Discussions of the conflict on China’s heavily censored online forums have largely centered on the poor performance of Iran’s military and security apparatus, though some participants have noted the limits of China’s support for Iran.

在中国受到严格审查的网络论坛上，关于这场冲突的讨论主要集中在伊朗军事和安全机构的糟糕表现上，尽管一些参与者指出，中国对伊朗的支持是有限的。

Zhu Zhaoyi, a Middle East expert at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said in a post that China could not provide Iran with “unconditional protection” and confront the United States and Israel militarily. He said Beijing could only exert pressure through the United Nations Security Council, of which China is a permanent member.

北京对外经济贸易大学的中东问题专家朱兆一在一篇文章中说，中国不可能向伊朗提供“无条件保护”，也不可能在军事上对抗美国和以色列。他说，北京只能通过联合国安理会施加压力，中国是安理会常任理事国。

“The turmoil in the Middle East is both a challenge and a test for China,” Mr. Zhu wrote.

“中东动荡对中国既是挑战也是考验，”朱兆一写道。

China’s tempered response resembles that of its like-minded partner, Russia, which has done little more than issue statements of support for Iran, despite having received badly needed military aid from Tehran for its war in Ukraine. Both Beijing and Moscow were also seen as bystanders last year when their shared partner, the Assad regime, was overthrown in Syria.

中国的温和反应，和与其志同道合的伙伴俄罗斯相似，尽管俄罗斯在乌克兰战争中从德黑兰得到了急需的军事援助，但除了发表支持伊朗的声明外，中国几乎没有采取任何行动。去年，当双方共同的伙伴阿萨德政权在叙利亚被推翻时，北京和莫斯科也被认为是在袖手旁观。

Their relative absence raises questions about the cohesiveness of what some in Washington have called the “Axis of Upheaval” — the quartet of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, which have drawn closer diplomatically and militarily around a common opposition to the U.S.-dominated world order.

两国的相对缺席让人们对华盛顿一些人所称的“动荡轴心”——中国、俄罗斯、伊朗和朝鲜这四个国家——的凝聚力产生了质疑。这四个国家在外交和军事上越来越紧密地团结在一起，共同反对美国主导的世界秩序。

Of the four nations, only China is deeply embedded in the global economy, which means it has much to lose from turmoil in the Middle East. It buys virtually all of Iran’s exported oil, at a discount, using clandestine tanker fleets to evade U.S. sanctions. And its ships depend on safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz to transport additional oil from Gulf states.

在这四个国家中，只有中国深深地融入了全球经济，这意味着中东的动荡将给该国带来惨重损失。中国以折扣价购买了伊朗几乎所有的出口石油，利用秘密油轮船队规避美国的制裁。它的船只如果从海湾国家运输更多的石油，必须安全通过霍尔木兹海峡。

Higher energy prices would present another major headache for Beijing, which is trying to turn its sluggish economy around.

对于正在努力扭转经济疲软局面的中国政府来说，能源价格上涨将是另一个令人头疼的问题。

Besides energy, Iran provides China with a crucial foothold in the Middle East for advancing its interests and countering the United States, which has tens of thousands of troops across the region. Beijing has cultivated closer ties with Gulf states for the same reasons.

除了能源之外，伊朗还为中国在中东提供了一个重要的立足点，以促进其利益和对抗在该地区拥有数万军队的美国。出于同样的原因，北京与海湾国家建立了更密切的关系。

Chinese analysts often argue that Beijing is an attractive mediator in the Middle East because it will not lecture other countries about issues like human rights. “It’s the only major power trusted by rival factions in the region, capable of achieving breakthroughs where the U.S. cannot,” said Wen Jing, a Middle East expert at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

中国的分析人士经常说，北京在中东是一个有吸引力的调解人，因为它不会在人权等问题上对其他国家说教。清华大学中东问题专家文晶说：“中国是该地区敌对派系唯一信任的大国，有能力在美国无法实现的领域取得突破。”

But some Western analysts say China played only a small role in the détente between Iran and Saudi Arabia, toward the end of those negotiations. Washington has also been frustrated by Beijing’s reluctance to put pressure on Iran to stop Houthi rebels from attacking ships off the coast of Yemen, except in cases involving Chinese vessels.

但一些西方分析人士说，在伊朗和沙特阿拉伯的谈判中，中国只是在最后扮演了一个并重要的角色。华盛顿还对北京方面不愿向伊朗施压、要求其阻止胡塞叛军在也门沿海袭击船只——除非涉及中国船只——感到失望。

That unwillingness to apply pressure on its partners undercuts China’s standing in the Middle East, said Barbara Leaf, a former assistant secretary of state for near Eastern affairs at the State Department who is now a senior adviser at Arnold and Porter, a Washington-based law firm.

美国国务院前近东事务助理国务卿、现为华盛顿律师事务所Arnold and Porter高级顾问的芭芭拉·利夫说，中国不愿对其合作伙伴施加压力，削弱了中国在中东的地位。

“Nobody is saying, ‘We better call up Beijing and see what they can do here,’ because Beijing has played a purely commercial and economic role,” Ms. Leaf said, describing the attitudes of Middle Eastern officials with whom she has spoken over the years.

“没有人说，‘我们最好给北京打电话，看看他们能在这里做些什么，’因为北京一直扮演着纯粹的商业和经济角色，”利夫描述多年来与她交谈过的中东官员的态度。

“They just sort of take it as a given that China is going to look out for China,” she said.

她说：“他们会不假思索地觉得，中国只会为中国自己着想。”