Israel-Hamas war tests China’s Middle East strategy

President of China Xi Jinping speaks during a press briefing on the third day of the BRICS Summit at the Sandton Convention Center in Johannesburg, South Africa on August 24. 2023. File Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI | License Photo Nov. 6 (UPI) — On Oct. 30, 2023, reports began to circulate that Israel was missing from from the mapping services provided by Chinese tech companies Baidu and Alibaba, effectively signaling — or so some believed — that Beijing was siding with Hamas over Israel in the ongoing war. Within hours, Chinese officials began to push back on that narrative, pointing…