China seeks greater global diplomatic role but avoids the Middle East, analysts say
- ‘China’s goal is to enjoy the fact that the US is getting bruised here, but also to use the conflict in Gaza as a way to rally the Global South against the United States,‘ one says
- The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission heard how China’s limited diplomacy in the Middle East aligns with efforts to build international standing
While China seeks greater diplomatic reach, the better to undermine US global leadership, it is unable and unwilling to engage in the necessary security guarantees the Middle East requires, analysts testified in hearings by a leading China policy panel in Washington on Friday.
Jon Alterman, senior vice-president of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission that Beijing regards the Middle East as “a place with far more dangers than promises”, a region with “intractable security challenges”.
He argued that Chinese diplomats saw little benefit in helping to solve the region’s problems and that Beijing would not pursue overt involvement in mediating controversial issues such as the conflict between Israel and Hamas or the Iranian threat to regional stability.
“There is no desire to play a role. There’s just a desire to sit at the grown-ups’ table,” Alterman said.
“China’s goal is partly to quietly enjoy the fact that the US is getting bruised here, but also to try to use the conflict in Gaza as a way to rally the Global South against the United States,” he added.
