The Dragon Moves West? China’s Gambit in the Middle East

The twenty-first century has witnessed the rise of China as a great power on the world stage. The growing economic and military clout has led to a rise in China’s strategic aspirations. The adage, “Hide your strength and bide your time,” which exemplified the cautious restraint of China’s foreign policy under Deng Xiaoping, has been replaced as of late under Xi Jinping by “major country Diplomacy,” embodying an assertive and proactive international role for China. While the former approach was more pragmatic in its orientation, focused on energy security, limited political involvement and an emphasis on noninterference; the foreign policy under President Xi has a more aggressive, multifaceted outlook. China’s successful mediation of the 2023 Saudi–Iran rapprochement and its emergence as a diplomatic actor in major regional flashpoints are examples of this shift in foreign policy and raise significant questions regarding the motivations, strategies and ramifications of its expanding Middle Eastern presence (Jash, 2023, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs ). A centralization of power and the vision of a “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” (Zhang, 2024, A critical discourse study of the Chinese dream ) under President Xi has provided an ideological impetus to a foreign policy aiming for both tangible influence and symbolic leadership with Chinese characteristics.