Beijing’s West Asia playbook in a changing global order
This paper is authored by Lillian Aronson, ORF.
While Beijing’s foreign policy is not focused on West Asia, its footprint in the region is expanding. Many of China’s short-term aims, such as securing energy, have remained unchanged since the Cold War, but the country’s rise on the global stage is increasingly creating a need for a long-term strategy suited to the changing world order. Especially since the start of the Gaza war, this strategy is slowly materialising, with China leveraging tensions with the West to boost its international legitimacy and undermine US dominance. This stance, however, comes with new risks and responsibilities, particularly as the new US administration increasingly focuses on global power competition. As it navigates these geopolitical headwinds, China’s ability to adapt its playbook to protect its interests will be a crucial test of its broader ambitions on the global stage.
Since the start of the Gaza war, Chinese diplomats have adopted a more vocal stance on West Asia issues like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, leveraging tensions with the West to boost their country’s public image and try to undermine United States dominance. This stance, however, comes with new risks and responsibilities. The strong regional presence of the US, which is increasingly engaging in global power competition with China and trying to curb its influence, presents additional limitations. The aim of this brief is to map Chinese interests in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to better understand possible strategies for the future against the backdrop of turbulent global politics.
This paper can be accessed here.
This paper is authored by Lillian Aronson, ORF.
