On Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the rule of law must be upheld to achieve peace in the Middle East, in remarks widely seen as a rebuke of the US–Israeli war with Iran. His comments came as Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, was visiting Beijing.

Since the start of the US–Israeli war with Iran in late February, China's public messaging appears to have evolved. Does Xi's latest statement signal that Beijing may step up efforts to help bring the war to an end?

DW's China analyst Clifford Coonan and Andrea Ghiselli, a lecturer at the University of Exeter in the UK, assess what this could mean.