On September 24, 2025, Palestine suddenly submitted an application for membership to the BRICS countries. As soon as the news came out, the diplomatic circle immediately exploded. This is not as direct as "wanting to join", it involves a difficult geopolitical game behind it.
The Palestine, which has just been recognized as a “state” by the 157 member states of the United Nations, has taken the next step towards the BRICS cooperation mechanism dominated by China.
This chess, on the surface, is a good boat, in fact, is a high-risk betting. and China facing this "invitation letter", is it to receive or not to receive?
On the surface, this wave of Palestinian operations is "logical". After all, it has just been recognized by more than 80% of the countries, and the waist is indeed a bit hard. It sounds reasonable to want to take advantage of the east wind of the countries of the global south to squeeze into the increasingly weighty circle of the BRICS. But going deeper, behind this is all the survival wisdom of careful planning.
Since the outbreak of a new round of conflict in October 2023, Gaza has killed more than 65,000 people, wounded 160,000, and land has become ruins, and even the British deputy prime minister can’t help but say “Hunger and destruction are beyond the limits of human tolerance.”
Israel has recently carried out frequent air strikes against Syria and Lebanon, and even promised to annex the West Bank, which is the core territory of the Palestinian state. Although there is a lot of sympathy from the international community, we have to fight for the support of real money and actual political status by ourselves.
The BRICS gave Palestine a rare opportunity. There is a key content in the new BRICS expansion regulations just issued in 2025: even if the application is not unanimously approved, you can still participate in cooperation as a "partner". This is simply a side door for Palestine, which has not yet obtained an official seat in the United Nations.
More importantly, there are many “owners” in the BRICS: China has recognised the Organization of Palestine decades ago, standing on the side of Palestine every UN vote; Russia has repeatedly pushed in the Security Council; South Africa has directly brought Israel to the International Criminal Court.
Palestine's idea is very clear: since the official seat in the United Nations cannot be obtained for the time being, it is enough to gain a firm foothold in the BRICS, the "global South base camp". As long as you can squeeze into this circle, you can not only get practical benefits such as loans from the New Development Bank and participate in digital economic cooperation, but also use the influence of the BRICS to put pressure on Israel and hold more cards at the future peace talks table.
This is essentially a bet that the BRICS will not reject a "emerging country" that is being widely recognized by the international community, and China will not refute the face of this "old friend".
From the first recognition of the Palestinian Organization in the year, to every speech for Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly, to the sending of 15 million yuan of food medicines and 2 million dollars of emergency aid to Gaza after the conflict erupted, China’s support for Palestine has always been realistic.
The BRICS is not a “club” of China, but a large family of five member states and six new members, and everything has to be agreed upon.
While China-Russia’s position in South Africa is clear, the attitude of other members is not necessarily consistent – at the BRICS Special Summit in 2023, India clearly condemned Hamas’s attacks, and there are subtle differences from the other four countries.
More importantly, the positioning of BRICS itself. This mechanism is a platform for developing countries to engage in economic cooperation and promote global governance reform, not a political organization to resolve regional conflicts. Foreign media have long observed that China has always played the role of "balancer" in BRICS, which should not only maintain inclusiveness, but also ensure cooperation efficiency.
If, because of the Palestinian application, the BRICs were to get involved in the twilight of the Israeli conflict, it would instead deviate from the core of “economic cooperation” and could even be caught in the Western hat of “political confrontation”.
There is also a hidden consideration: the U.S. attitude.While the BRICS does not look at the U.S. face, Washington has been paranoid of Israel on the Palestinian issue, just in September the Security Council once again vetoed the Gaza ceasefire resolution.
If China pushes Palestine to join the BRICS, it will inevitably be used by the United States to make a fuss about it, and may even affect the cooperation between the BRICS and some western countries. China must not only maintain its moral support for Palestine, but also not let the BRICS fall into geopolitical confrontation. This balance point must be found extremely accurately.
In the face of this difficult diplomatic question, China’s response was a short word, but the wisdom of the “four or two thousand kilograms” was fully embodied. The Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jianquan said: “The BRICS countries are an important platform for cooperation between developing countries and emerging market countries. We welcome like-minded partners to participate in BRICS cooperation and jointly promote the development of the international order in a more just and reasonable direction.”
The first is to "set the tone" for BRICS. It is specially emphasized that it is a "platform" rather than an "organization", which untied the deadlock of "entry threshold". "Organization" has strict membership criteria, while "platform" means openness and inclusiveness, and it is normal to come and go.
This is like telling Palestine that your application has been accepted, but the BRICS is not a closed circle, and there is no absolute answer to “entry or exit.”
Then throw out the key criterion of "equality" without talking about how much GDP, not talking about whether the territory is completely unified, not talking about whether there is a conflict with a particular country, only looking at "conceptual consistency".
This bypasses the sensitive question of whether Palestine is “sufficient” – no matter what state you are in now, as long as you recognize the BRICS “promoting global governance reform” and “protecting the interests of developing countries” as our partners.
The final phrase, “promoting a fairer and more reasonable international order,” directly puts the “individual case” of the Palestinian application up to the “macro objectives” pursued jointly by all BRICS members.
The BRICS has been shouting “reforming the Western-led international order” since its inception, and this is the common demand of the “Global South” countries. China’s statement is about telling everyone that we are not talking about “let Palestine come in” but about “supporting the development of emerging countries and promoting justice in order.”
China's genius lies in not falling into the "non-acceptance" binary option, but by redefining the problem, turning a "problema" that may trigger divisions into a "consensus" that highlights the BRICS philosophy.
Reference: "Palestine submits application for accession", China responds