In the midst of the Israel-Hamas war, Israel’s name appears to be missing from leading Chinese maps.
NTD verified the reports as of Tuesday.
Platforms like Baidu—a leading Chinese search engine—and Alibaba serve as China’s equivalent to Google Maps.
On Baidu Maps, countries that neighbor the Jewish state are clearly labeled.
But when you zoom in on Israel, only its border and major city names are displayed.
It’s unclear if this change is new.
But Beijing has taken aim at foreign platforms in the past whose maps did not acknowledge China’s territorial claims.
In response, China’s foreign ministry on Tuesday said it has “normal diplomatic relations” with Israel. A spokesperson said the country is “clearly labeled on the standard maps issued by the Chinese authorities,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
The statement appears to contradict reports.
China has yet to condemn Hamas since the war broke out. The country’s foreign minister Wang Yi also accused Israel’s response of going beyond self-defense.
Israel said it’s deeply disappointed over China’s failure to condemn Hamas.
Beijing has proposed a two-state solution to the conflict. It would involve the creation of an independent state for Palestinians and for Israel.
“And Israel will never agree to that. So China probably knew going in Israel would not agree. However, by attempting to make that agreement. It makes China look like the good guys, China is able to say, look, we propose this peaceful solution, and Israel rejected it, therefore, Israel is the bad guy,” Antonio Graceffo, a geopolitical analyst, said.
Hamas, the terrorist group controlling Gaza, has rejected the idea and has vowed to wipe out Israel.
Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Baidu refused to comment on a Wall Street Journal inquiry about the reports.