The Position of the Middle East in China's Grand Strategy

The growing importance of China's presence in the world order and its increasing power projection with its global goals raises questions about how the Middle East fits into China's grand strategy. Particularly several hypotheses have been proposed regarding whether China seeks to replace the United States as the main guarantor of the security of some actors in the Middle East. This trend seems to depend on whether the United States will withdraw its commitment to the region or whether Middle Eastern countries will look for an alternative guarantor. On the other hand, this issue also depends mainly on whether China is interested in playing such a role or whether it has the ability to do so. Understanding the dynamics of China's macro strategy and how the Middle East is related to the parameters around which the strategy is conceived should be the depature point for such an assessment. The purpose of this article is to provide a real assessment of this grand strategy and then draw conclusions regarding China's current and future role in the Middle East. The analysis of the data leads to the conclusion that the relationship with Middle Eastern countries is indeed significant for China. Nevertheless, it is of secondary importance to the Chinese government in comparison to their viatal interests.