Category: China

  • China’s Growing Role in Middle East Diplomacy: Navigating Regional Tensions

    China has historically pursued a restrained and economically focused presence in the Middle East, steering clear of direct involvement in conflicts and refraining from taking positions on contentious disputes. In this, Beijing has largely benefited from the security provisions offered by the United States, thus evading the security expenses and strategic challenges encountered by Washington. […]
    Nasser Khdour and Anas Iqtait/
    June 24, 2024
  • Behind the Pitch: How the UEFA Champions League Final Reflects Sino-Arab Geopolitics

    European club football’s season is set to culminate with the UEFA men’s Champions League final being staged in Istanbul, Manchester City of the English Premier League facing Italian Serie A team Internazionale of Milan in the competition’s deciding match. On-field, it should be an action-packed showcase for European football, off-field it is less likely to be the […]
    Simon Chadwick and Paul Widdop/
    May 22, 2024
  • Riyadh, Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo poses with AlNassr Football Club President Mossali Al-Muammar at press conference in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on January 3, 2023. Photo by Balkis Press/ABACAPRESS.COM Credit: Abaca Press/Alamy Live News

    Saudi Arabia, China, Red Sea Geopolitics & The 2030 World Cup

    In March 2021, a container ship – the Ever Given – ran aground in Egypt’s Suez Canal following stormy weather. This caused a significant obstruction to one of the world’s busiest trade routes, which lasted for almost a week. By the time the Ever Given was freed, there were more than three hundred and sixty […]
    Simon Chadwick/
    May 22, 2024
  • An Iranian Woman receives a dose of the China's Sinopharm new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine in the Iranmall shopping complex in northwest of Tehran, Iran on May 17, 2021. (Photo by Sobhan Farajvan/Pacific Press/Sipa USA) Credit: Sipa USA/Alamy Live News

    Capitalising on Covid: China’s health diplomacy in the Middle East

    In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, China’s Belt and Road Initiative has enabled the rising superpower to expand its sphere of influence in the Middle East. Much analysis of the initiative, which has seen China invest in more than 70 countries across Asia, Europe and the Middle East, is focused on infrastructure, including new […]
    Evan Freidin/
    May 22, 2024
  • Band of wild Mongolian horses at the foot of Dungurukh Uul mountain, near the border with China and Kazakhstan, Bayan-Olgiy Aymag, Mongolia. By Kristel Richard, Alamy Stock Photo.

    Navigating Great Powers: Mongolia and Kazakhstan’s shared geopolitical uncertainties

    Though seldom analysed together, Mongolian and Kazakh foreign policies are connected today by nature of their shared experience of their two larger neighbours China and Russia. Mongolia and Kazakhstan have both attempted to balance a largely economic relationship with China and a military strategic relationship with Russia, in order to develop and maintain their security […]
    Liam Campbell/
    May 22, 2024
  • China and Iran: Unrecognised Potential and Opportunities

    Iran presents important opportunities for China’s regional and continental ambitions. It has one of the world’s largest proven reserves of oil and natural gas which is important to the famously energy insecure Chinese economy. Iran also occupies a geographic region between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf, a key point in the old Silk […]
    Ali Ahmadi/
    May 22, 2024
  • China as a new Gulf mediator?

    China’s relationship to the Gulf could be changing. Previously, it avoided conflict and risk, which helped it establish good diplomatic relations and expand its commercial ties in the region. That approach may become harder given the high importance of Saudi Arabia and Iran to Chinese investments and the two countries’ own rivalry and competitive struggles […]
    Guy Burton, Lancaster University/
    May 22, 2024