In 2016, Chinese President Xi Jinping made visits to several Middle Eastern countries. During the visit, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) signed strategic comprehensive partnerships with Saudi Arabia and Iran. Both countries upgraded their diplomatic relations with China in no time at all. It is no coincidence that Xi Jinping made sure to sign partnerships with Saudi Arabia and Iran during the visit. China has played a significant role in the Middle East in the last decade
Since the beginning of the new decade in 2011, China has begun to pay special attention to the Middle East (Khan, 2021). China’s foreign policy towards the Middle East post-Arab Spring is driven by China’s perception of several interests in the region such as commercial and energy interests, safety, foreign nationals, fear of widespread terrorism and extremism, and the drive to prevent internal unrest triggered by social problems similar to those in the Middle East. China believes it can achieve these goals through a flexible and cautious policy. China entered into Saudi Arabia and Iran by placing a position as a neutral actor. This neutrality is because China maintains good relations with Saudi Arabia and Iran as partner countries in the Middle East.
China’s approach had a positive impact on a large number of regional conflicts. This has led to agreements that could end many of the clashes that have occurred. The recent deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran could be a tipping point to increase this trend exponentially. China believes that any regional security framework should be built and supported by regional players, with key external actors playing a mediating and supporting role.
Hedging is a financial term which China used to applied as their strategy. As defined in Encyclopedia Britannica, hedging is a method of reducing the risk of loss due to price fluctuations. Hedging can be defined as a set of strategies aimed at avoiding or planning for contingencies in situations where countries cannot decide on clearer alternatives such as balancing, participating or neutrality. The hedging strategy can be used as an analytical knife in looking at China’s interests in the Middle East. It is known that China is the actor behind the reconciliation of Saudi Arabia and Iran. China’s opportunistic attitude certainly has a tendency towards aspects of defense, security, diplomacy, and economic aspects. The opportunity was utilized by China to take a central role in reconciliation but still carry the interests of the country.
The ongoing development of China’s military capabilities shows that the political dimension in the defense field in the medium to long term cannot be ruled out. Thus, China can adhere to the traditional principles of diplomacy and peace, namely impartiality, non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs, non-violation of other countries’ sovereignty, no sphere of influence, and no hegemony or power politics. China has an interest in Saudi Arabia in the the defense sector which includes weapons to military bases. China makes Saudi Arabia the main consumer in the field of military weaponry and puts Beijing as a producer.
This can financially benefit China. In terms of security, this can emphasize China’s existence in the Middle East region. This existence is then used to harass the US, which is the most popular and dominating major power in the Middle East. With this, China’s influence in the Middle East can increase and stabilize Beijing’s position.
On the other hand, China’s relationship with Iran is of great political importance as it has a decisive influence on regional stability. A conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia could jeopardize regional stability as well as China’s investment in the Middle East region. Iran plays a major role in US foreign policy because of its potential threat to the region and global security structure. From China’s perspective, this has helped divert US attention from the Asia-Pacific region. The situation makes it important for China to continue to maintain relations with Iran.
China not only sold light weapons to Iran, but also supplied ballistic cruise missiles and tactical anti-ship missiles. Interestingly, instead of directly selling missiles to Iran, Beijing played an important role in kick-starting Iran’s military industrial sector by assisting Iran’s military modernization efforts. Chinese design and technology can be seen in many Iranian missile series, from short-range missiles named “Oghab” and “Nazeat” to long-range missiles named “Shahab”. It could be concluded that China considers Iran as a potential partner in the field of defense. In addition to emphasizing that China is one of the Asian powers that began to show its existence in the Middle East, China is also Iran’s main partner to eradicate the crime of theism. On the other hand, Iran also has dependencies with China in the fields of infrastructure improvement, investment and of course military strengthening.
China has extensive and warm relations in the Middle East with Saudi-Iran. In 2015, China officially became the largest global importer of crude oil with nearly half of its supply coming from the Middle East. As a strategically important crossroads for trade routes and sea lanes connecting Asia to Europe and Africa, the Middle East is critical to the future of the BRI designed for China’s connectivity at the center of global trade networks. PRC uses its economic power to promote its political goals. China’s increased economic activity in the Gulf can be understood as an attempt to find markets with an emphasis on infrastructure and its need for energy security. Energy has certainly been a key driver of China’s remarkable economic growth, Saudi Arabia has consistently been the top regional source of oil, and in recent years has alternated with Russia as China’s number one global oil partner.
Persian Gulf countries play an important role in meeting China’s energy needs. In 2000, China consumed 4.8 million barrels of oil per day. In 2013, more than half of China’s oil imports came from the region. Saudi Arabia has been the main supplier for several years along with Russia. In 2019, China consumed about 14.5 million barrels per day. Moreover, as China’s interest in energy diversification increases, Beijing has set its sights on gas imports. Thus, from an energy perspective it is evident that the Persian Gulf is gaining importance in China’s foreign policy calculations. In addition, the region lacks significant chemical supplies. This is very important for China’s manufacturing industry and for China’s economic progress.
China views Saudi Arabia and Iran as an important partner. Both countries are producers of natural resources that China needs. So it makes sense if China is warm and encourages the two countries to reconcile with the aim of China’s economic interests being maintained and getting stronger.
It can be concluded that China has a harmonious relationship with Middle Eastern countries. This relationship is maintained and maintained because of China’s interests in the Persian Gulf. As for China’s interests in the defense sector, namely China views countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran as strategic defense partners in the Middle East region both in strengthening the military and weapons. In addition, maintaining good relations with the Middle East has positive implications for China’s world order interests. On the one hand, China can carry out strategic projects in the Persian Gulf. On the other hand, China’s existence as a country that does not take sides with any group in the midst of conflict and tension does not affect good relations with Middle Eastern countries.
