As an unprecedented Israeli attack on Iran last week sparks a spiraling conflict between the two enemy states, China has seen an opportunity to cast itself as potential peace broker – and an alternative voice to the United States.

Israel unleashed a new wave of attacks against Iran on Monday, targeting missile sites after Tehran carried out deadly overnight strikes and both sides threatened more devastation. After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war fought through proxies and covert operations,

The conflict, the most intense fighting between the two countries in decades, has been met in the United States with feelings of “frustration and helplessness,” as well as heartbreak.