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Opinion | Can the Middle East become a theatre for strategic China-US cooperation?
- With Iranian nuclear talks set to resume, the Middle East is at a critical diplomatic juncture
- The US and China could turn the region into another playing field for superpower competition – or they could cooperate on shared geostrategic interests to ensure stability
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As tensions between the United States and China in their competition for global supremacy continue to play out in Asia, regional changes in the Middle East have created an opening for much-needed cooperation rather than confrontation between the two.
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This cooperation is of particular importance for “middle countries” in the region balancing competing regional and global interests and increasingly being stuck between the Sino-US divide.
With Iranian nuclear negotiations set to resume on November 29, the two nations best positioned to promote – or inhibit – stability in the Middle East are on starkly different trajectories in terms of their geostrategic priorities at this critical diplomatic juncture for the region.
The chaotic American withdrawal from Afghanistan exacerbated the perception that the US is pursuing a diminishing presence in the Middle East with the extent and durability of Washington’s security commitments in the region in question.
Conversely, Beijing’s recent increased focus on the Middle East is palpable. China’s influence, seeded during the Arab spring in 2011 and reinforced by the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, has made it the largest and most sought-after investor in the region.
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China calls for Iran sanctions relief and US return to nuclear deal
China calls for Iran sanctions relief and US return to nuclear deal
Since launching the Belt and Road Initiative, China has pumped at least US$123 billion into the Middle East in related project financing, two-way trade has grown to nearly US$250 billion, and additional advancements have been made in the form of strategic partnerships combining infrastructure and technology. China’s Covid-19 vaccine diplomacy has also been welcomed in the region.
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