Following the U.S.-China Alaska talks, Secretary of State Blinken traveled to the European Union and NATO to seek the support of allies in discussing ways to deal with China. Meanwhile, China is also seeking support from its own partners in a bid to counteract U.S. and Western influence. Following the Sino-Russian talks in Guilin, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited six countries in the Middle East. Analysts said Wang’s trip was partly to seek support from Muslim countries in the Middle East for China on the Xinjiang issue, but more importantly to demonstrate China’s “great power” posture and its influence and presence in many parts of the world.
After Western Sanctions, China Turns to Russia and Middle East for Support
On March 24, Wang Yi arrived in Saudi Arabia to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed as Secretary of State Blinken met with allies in Europe to ask for a joint response to an increasingly “aggressive” China.
Chinese media reported that Mohammed said Saudi Arabia “firmly supports China’s legitimate position on issues related to Xinjiang and Hong Kong, opposes interference in China’s internal affairs under any pretext, and opposes individual forces to provoke relations between China and the Islamic world.
The analysis suggests that the more explicit support from Saudi Arabia, the self-proclaimed “heart of the Islamic world,” is undoubtedly important for China at a Time when the West has joined forces to impose sanctions on China for trampling on the human rights of the Uighur Muslim minority in Xinjiang.
Prior to his trip to the Middle East, Wang met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Guilin, China, and received support from Russia as well. The joint Russian-Chinese statement said, among other things, “We oppose the politicization of human rights issues, reject interference in the internal affairs of other countries and double standards through human rights issues, and conduct dialogue in this field on the basis of equality and mutual respect for the benefit of all peoples.”
On Monday, March 22, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada imposed sanctions on Chinese officials over the Xinjiang issue, the first such concerted action by Western countries against Beijing since President Biden took office.
In its isolation, China has made no secret of the importance of the Muslim countries of the Middle East to the country. Chinese experts were quoted by Shangguan News, a division of the Jiefang Daily, as saying, “This support [from Middle Eastern countries] is invaluable in the special diplomatic environment China is facing.”
David Pollock, a senior Middle East expert at the Washington Institute, a Washington think tank, told Voice of America, “They really want to show the outside world that the Xinjiang Uighur issue does not prevent China from maintaining friendly relations with many countries with majority Muslim populations, including very Islamist countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran maintaining friendly relations.”
However, Pollock believes that this should not be the main purpose of Wang Yi’s trip, as prior to this, China has used its economic advantage to successfully silence many Muslim countries on the Xinjiang Uighur issue. in July 2019, Beijing succeeded in getting more than a dozen member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to sign a statement supporting China’s policy in Xinjiang.
Turkey is an important base for Uyghurs’ campaign against Chinese repression. For quite some time, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been a strong critic of China’s treatment of the Muslim minority Uighurs, even denouncing China in 2009 for carrying out “genocide,” but after 2016, Erdoğan appears to have changed his stance.
On Thursday, March 25, Wang Yi visited Turkey. Turkey said that while the two countries will strengthen cooperation in the fight against the New Guinea virus and the New Guinea vaccine, they also expressed to Wang Yi their “feelings and thoughts” on the Uighur issue. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also denied Thursday that Turkey would deport Uighurs.
Turkey and China signed an extradition treaty in 2017. The extradition treaty was ratified by the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress late last year, and many fear that Turkey will extradite Uighurs to China.
Wang Yi was also protested by about 300 Uyghurs during his visit to Turkey. They held signs saying “Stop China” to protest China’s crackdown on their compatriots in Xinjiang.
After Turkey, Wang will also visit Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman.
Demonstrating China’s “great power” posture
The Washington Institute’s Pollock said Wang’s trip is less of a “crisis communication” and more of a routine visit to show the rise of the Middle East in China’s diplomatic map.
China is trying to show everyone that it is one of the great powers, that it has interests and a presence around the world, or in most parts of the world,” he said. Although the Middle East is not a top priority for China, it still means a lot to China. Partly because of the geography of the Middle East, partly because of the importance of the Middle East in the Belt and Road project, and partly because of China’s dependence on the oil resources of the Middle East.”
According to China, it has now signed the “Belt and Road” document with 19 Middle Eastern countries. All six countries that Wang visited have signed Belt and Road agreements with China. Among China’s top 10 Crude Oil suppliers, six are Middle Eastern countries, with Saudi Arabia being the largest supplier.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Wang Yi’s agenda and objectives for his trip to the Middle East are threefold. First, he will have in-depth strategic communication with the other side, promote the implementation of the important consensus reached by President Xi Jinping and other leaders, and facilitate the docking of China’s new development pattern and the major development strategies of other countries; second, he will support regional countries to fight against epidemics and restore economic and social development, promote the high-quality construction of the “Belt and Road”, and explore mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation. Second, to support regional countries in their fight against the Epidemic and in their economic and social recovery and development, promote high-quality joint construction of the “Belt and Road”, and explore mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation. Third, exchange views with each other on regional affairs, especially on hotspot issues, and contribute Chinese wisdom to maintain peace in the Middle East.
According to Wang Yi’s March 24 interview with Al-Arabiya TV, China seems to play a role in many hotspot issues in the Middle East, including promoting political solutions to hotspot issues in Syria, Yemen and Libya, helping to implement the two-state solution for Palestine and Israel, and discussing the formulation of a roadmap and timetable for the resumption of the U.S.-Iranian nuclear program.
On the Palestinian-Israeli issue, Wang said that China plans to invite Palestinian and Israeli peacemakers to China for peace talks. However, The Jerusalem Post reported on March 24 that China has not yet contacted the Israeli Foreign Ministry or the prime minister’s office about peace talks.In 2017, China held a similar seminar in Beijing, when Majdalani, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee, and Barr, deputy speaker of the Israeli parliament and head of the parliamentary group on the two-state solution, led a delegation to Beijing.
However, according to Pollock of the Washington Institute, this was a symbolic gesture, and such a meeting would not have been too serious or attended at a high level and, therefore, would not have resulted in much.
Pollock believes that given the complex situation in the Middle East, China should remain true to its previous principles for a long time to come, maintaining relations with all sides in the Middle East and avoiding taking sides or getting involved in any kind of conflict.
China does not want to pick sides in various conflicts,” he said. It wants to maintain good relations with Iran and Saudi Arabia, the Israelis and the Palestinians and any other contentious country. The Chinese don’t want to get entangled with either side and be forced to take a position for one side against the other. Their interests will continue to be largely economic and symbolic, demonstrating that they are a strong country, rather than being seriously involved in mediation or in any regional conflict.”
Three of the six countries on the Middle East trip have strained relations with the United States
Wang Yi has arrived in Iran on Friday, March 26. Iranian media reported that the two countries are expected to sign a 25-year-long strategic cooperation agreement. It is worth mentioning that both Iran and China are currently under U.S. sanctions.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry recently said that it welcomes and values Wang Yi’s visit. Wang Yi will meet separately with Iranian President Rouhani and Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif. The Washington Institute’s Pollock believes that the Iran nuclear deal is bound to be one of the main topics of talks between Wang Yi and Iranian officials, and that China will make good use of the opportunity to undermine the Biden Administration‘s desire to renegotiate the deal.
U.S.-Iranian relations were strained again in May 2018 when the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue and imposed extreme pressure on Iran. Although the Biden administration has expressed its willingness to adjust its policy toward Iran and return to the Iran nuclear deal since taking office, U.S.-Iran relations have not shown any signs of improvement so far.
In addition to Iran, among the six countries Wang visited, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have also experienced friction in their relations with the United States.
Turkey has upset the U.S. over the purchase of Russian air defense systems. Secretary of State John Blinken said at the beginning of his term that Turkey was not behaving like a U.S. ally. He also said the U.S. would reconsider whether to impose further sanctions on Turkey over its purchase of Russian air defense systems.
Last December, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Turkey’s defense industry over its purchase of S-400 surface-to-air missile systems from Russia. These sanctions had bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress at the time and were eventually implemented through the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). This is the first time the law has been used against a NATO member state. Turkey, for its part, called the move a “grave mistake.
Saudi Arabia is also under U.S. sanctions. In February, the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a declassified intelligence report. The report concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had approved the kidnapping and killing of Washington Post columnist and Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Despite the Saudi royal Family‘s denials, Biden subsequently announced sanctions against several officials, including economic, personal and travel sanctions. Biden also shouted to the Saudi king that “major changes” were coming to relations between the two countries and that all the rules would change as well. However, on March 1, the State Department said the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia is important and that the U.S. is “recalibrating” the bilateral relationship, but not seeking to break it up.
The Washington Institute’s Pollock said that while China is making great efforts to improve relations with Middle Eastern countries, Middle Eastern countries also want to develop relations with China, which does not mean they have to choose sides between the United States and China.
With the exception of Iran, which is staunchly anti-American, Saudi Arabia and Turkey remain committed to developing security ties with the United States, he said. The UAE, Bahrain and Oman also have good relations with the United States. Following the establishment of diplomatic relations between the UAE, Bahrain and Israel, Oman is also likely to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, and the United States is satisfied with such a development.
Pollock said the U.S. strategy in the Middle East is indeed shrinking, but this does not mean that the United States is about to withdraw from the Middle East, because the Middle East is also one of the regions where the U.S. and Chinese powers are competing.
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