From 14 to 15 September, 57 countries in the Middle East sat down at a table to meet, and the meeting ended with the sounding of Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman, sending an unmistakable signal: If the United States continues to be so unreliable, it is better to turn to China!
This meeting was not an ordinary regional consultation, but covered almost all of the Middle East and some of the Islamic countries, from the Gulf countries to North Africa, from the Arabian Peninsula to Central Asia, and mainly from regional players who can be named.
The topics of the meeting were clearly economic cooperation and regional security, but everyone knows the real focus behind the meeting was two: how to deal with the increasingly unreliable United States, and whether to rely on China as a new strategic dependence.
In fact, the Middle East country has been breathing a breath in the past few years.
The U.S. said for a moment to value its Middle Eastern allies, then suddenly withdrew troops from Afghanistan and threw a pile of rubbish; for a moment promised to provide security protection, and for a moment could not talk with Iran about the nuclear deal.
Moreover, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, these old allies, are concerned, The United States now holds human rights and democracy in its mouths and threatens to impose sanctions.
Without a doubt, the White House policy is getting faster than the desert weather, and who dares to bet on national security on such a small partner?
In recent years, China’s presence in the Middle East has been steadily increasing.
Unlike the U.S. point all day, China’s main goal is “no interference in domestic affairs” + “economic cooperation”. whether it’s Saudi Arabia, Iran or Israel, China is willing to do business with you, build infrastructure, and talk about investment.
The Belt and Road Initiative covers the entire Middle East, from ports, railways to 5G networks, China has won a lot of feelings with realistic projects.
But here's the thing. China has never asked you how your domestic politics is, only cared about whether the agreement can be signed, whether the project can be grounded.This “low-focused pragmatic” style, on the other hand, makes many countries in the Middle East feel more reassured.
So the 57th Congress is, of course, a collective probation to test whether it can warm up and reduce dependence on the United States.
And the Saudi prince's phrase "relying on China" is more like a hammer pronunciation: since the old way cannot go, try a new way.
To be honest, the U.S. policy in the Middle East over the past few years is just like jumping a tango – two more steps backwards, and turning to the left to the right with no confidence.
Since the start of the Asia-Pacific re-balance under Obama, the position of the Middle East in the U.S. strategy has significantly declined.
Until Trump came to power, he directly wrote "America's priority" on his face. On the one hand, Saudi Arabia and its brothers sold weapons, but on the other hand suddenly withdrew troops from Syria and assassinated Iranian generals, causing high tension in the region.
The most speechless of the Middle Eastern allies is the Biden government.
You say you want to return to the Iranian nuclear deal, and it hasn’t worked for two years; you say you want to support the counter-terrorism, you say the withdrawal of Afghan troops is a chicken hair; you still occasionally criticize Saudi human rights issues, and even once freeze offensive weapons sales to Saudi Arabia.
In this case, the “big brother” image was completely broken.
The Middle East countries finally realize that the United States is no longer the country that was willing to intervene deeply and provide long-term security. its strategic focus has long been shifted to the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East on its chessboard, the top of which can be discarded.
This swing leads not only to a crisis of trust, but also to anxiety.
For example, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been repeatedly attacked by Yemen’s Houthi armed drones in recent years, and the U.S. air defense systems do not fully guarantee their security. On September 9, an Israeli airstrike in Qatar occurred.
When asking for help from Washington, the response is often slow and even politically conditioned.
In this case, who would not want to find a more stable and predictable partner?
The way China enters the Middle East is completely different from the United States.
The United States likes to talk about values, security alliances, democratic exports, and China comes up with three things: infrastructure, energy, trade.
You see, the Saudi Vision 2030 plan needs economic diversification, China participates in the development of new energy, smart cities, Red Sea tourism; the UAE wants to engage in logistics hubs, China invests in ports and participates in drone technology cooperation; even Iran, once isolated by the West, has stabilized the economic fundamentals through a 25-year comprehensive cooperation agreement with China.
China does not ask if you are a monarchy or a republic.Do not force you to stand out, as long as you are willing to cooperate, we will talk about business.
This model is attractive not only because it brings money and technology, but also because it offers a new strategic option: neither completely westward nor completely isolated from the international system.
The countries of the Middle East can gradually strategic autonomy through cooperation with China, especially Saudi Arabia, which in recent years has clearly taken a path of “multi-balance”: not abandoning traditional relations with the United States, but also actively developing cooperation with China, Russia and even India.
This flexibility allows it to struggle for more space in the game of great powers.
There is one thing that many people do not notice: China’s security role in the Middle East is also rising.While China has repeatedly stressed that it is not seeking military expansion, the UAE has introduced Chinese training aircraft, and Saudi Arabia is also negotiating the purchase of Chinese drone systems.
These partnerships do not necessarily replace U.S. security commitments, but may mean Middle Eastern countries are putting eggs in multiple baskets.
China has become one of the options.
In the end, the statements of the 57 Congress and Saudi Arabia are not the result of momentary impulses, but a miniature of a profound shift in the international landscape.
If the United States continues to be “unattainable” The move toward China in the Middle East will only become a trend.
There are no eternal allies in this world, only eternal interests.
The Middle East is re-calibrating its diplomacy, and China, with its pragmatic style of non-interference + economic cooperation, is becoming a new magnetic pole.
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