An agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia to re-establish diplomatic relations has cast China in a leading role in Middle Eastern politics—a part previously reserved for longtime global heavyweights like the US and Russia. Know more:
BEIJING—An agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia to re-establish diplomatic relations has cast China in a leading role in Middle Eastern politics—a part previously reserved for longtime global heavyweights like the US and Russia. It’s another sign that China’s diplomatic clout is growing to match its economic footprint.
“I think it is a sign that China is increasingly confident in taking a more assertive role in the Middle East,” said Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, an Indonesian academic affiliated with the Washington-based Middle East Institute. China has invested heavily in regional energy infrastructure. It also occasionally contributed naval ships to join anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia, though the US Navy has served as the main security guarantor for Mideast waters since the 1980s.
The diplomatic victory comes as Washington has heavily criticized China for failing to condemn Russia’s invasion and for accusing the US and NATO of provoking the conflict. China created the position of special envoy for the Middle East in 2002, focusing on Israel and the Palestinian Authority. While China sells drones and other weaponry to countries in the region, it does so nowhere on the scale of the United States and without political conditions.
Though China is active in UN peacekeeping operations, Beijing’s previous efforts at third-party mediation have sagged under the weight of its political baggage. A recent Chinese proposal calling for a cease-fire and peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine went nowhere.
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