World order ‘crumbling into disarray’ as Iran war drags on: Chinese President Xi

[BEIJING] Chinese President Xi Jinping touted shared principles with Spain to counter global disorder during an official visit by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, which comes after both sides have criticised US-Israeli attacks on Iran and called for peace. 

“The international order is crumbling into disarray,” Xi told Sanchez on Tuesday (Apr 14) in Beijing. While Xi has often described the international landscape as turbulent, this is the strongest language he has publicly used, with the Chinese phrase not only indicating disorder but also moral decay.

“Both China and Spain are nations of principle and integrity,” Xi said, adding that the two sides should “enhance communication, consolidate mutual trust, and cooperate closely to resist any regression toward the law of the jungle.”

This comes as the Chinese president said China would continue to play a constructive role in the Middle East by promoting peace and dialogue, at a separate meeting with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohammed in Beijing on Tuesday.

The meeting between Sanchez and Xi is their fourth in just over three years as Spain positions itself as one of China’s closest friends in Europe.

Spain has been among the European countries most strongly opposed to the US-Israeli war in Iran, which Sanchez has described as “illegal”. 

The country has closed its airspace to US warplanes involved in the conflict and is barring Washington from using its two military bases on Spanish territory for that purpose.

At the same time, Spain has condemned Iran’s response to the US and Israeli strikes and warned of regional destabilisation. 

China has also criticised the military action against Iran and warned it risks plunging the Middle East into deeper instability.

SEE ALSO

President Xi vows China’s constructive role in first remarks on Iran War

China’s Wang Yi urges talks to sustain fragile Iran-US ceasefire

Spanish premier urges China to take bigger role in multipolar order

Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged the international community to step up efforts to promote peace talks between Iran and the US, warning that the current truce remains fragile and must be preserved.

During opening remarks at the meeting on Tuesday, Sanchez said he was in Beijing so the two countries can “contribute to providing solutions to the various trade tensions, the difficulties and geopolitical complexities of today’s world, the wars, and the environmental and social challenges affecting the world.”

Sanchez defended establishing “an even stronger bond between China and the European Union.”

Despite the scepticism of some other European countries regarding China, the Spanish premier said that cooperation between both sides “will benefit their societies and also contribute to the stability, peace, and prosperity of the world”.

Ahead of the meeting, Sanchez urged China to leverage its global influence to help bring the conflicts in Iran and Ukraine to an end.

“China can do more – for example, by demanding, as it is already doing, that international law be upheld and that conflicts in Lebanon, Iran, Gaza, the West Bank, and Ukraine come to an end,” Sanchez said during a speech at Tsinghua University in Beijing on Monday.

Spain views China as a stabilising force in the international order, which Sanchez has said should be reshaped to give greater weight to Beijing and other under-represented countries.

“The West must give up part of its representation quotas in favour of global stability and the trust of countries in the Global South,” Sanchez said at Tsinghua University.

When both leaders met in 2025, Xi called to build bilateral ties with “more strategic determination and more vitality” amid “changes and chaos in the international situation.”

Back then, Xi also called for a joint effort to oppose “isolationism, unilateralism and decoupling.” BLOOMBERG