China is leaving no room for doubt about its allegiances in the Middle East. Its initial response to the unprecedented direct Iranian assault on Israeli territory on April 19 was to applaud the move through Chinese Communist Party media organs. While Beijing then tried to position itself as an impartial broker, through a summary of a call between top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi and Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian after the attack, it’s making no secret of its total support for Iran’s position.

Chinese defense minister Dong Jun doubled down on his country’s endorsement of the Iranian drone and missile barrage during a meeting with Iranian defense minister Mohammad-Reza Gharaei Ashtiani last week in Kazakhstan, on the sidelines of a gathering of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. According to the Iranian state-owned PressTV outlet, Dong “slammed” Israel’s April 1 strike on an Iranian facility in Damascus and said that China supports “Iran’s legitimate right to respond to Israel.”

The meeting highlighted the growing military ties between Tehran and Beijing. Ashtiani took the opportunity to advocate closer security cooperation between the two governments. He, unsurprisingly, spoke positively about “China’s stance on the ongoing developments in the region.” After all, the Chinese Communist Party might be the most powerful international supporter of Iran’s so-called axis of resistance in the Middle East. At the International Criminal Court, a Chinese diplomat asserted that Palestinians have a right to armed resistance against Israel. And China has consistently taken Iran’s side in other developments since October 7.

While it’s hardly surprising that China is siding with Iran, Dong’s total support of the Iranian strike puts the lie to the Chinese Communist Party’s claims that it’s a supporter of safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries. It’s clearly more interested in building out a global axis of resistance.