Xi Jinping's recent Middle East tour and the publication of China's first-ever Arab policy paper last January are welcome moves for diplomatic ties, but China will need more than the signing of strategic partnerships and the writing of billion-dollar checks to prevent the escalation of crises in the region and secure its investments. On the major issue of the on-going civil war in Syria, Beijing has not sought to stick its neck out, instead regularly vetoing resolutions from the United Nations Security Council that would impose sanctions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Similarly, Beijing remained stubbornly silent when the Israel-Palestine Peace Process collapsed in 2014, while its cautious attitude toward the civil war in Yemen illustrates the country's rigid adherence to its policy of non-intervention.
This is despite the fact that many Arab states perceive China as a more balanced player in the region than other great powers – in particular the United States. Many hopes were placed in the appointment of a Chinese Middle East envoy in 2003, but the position's mandate has been confined to an information gathering and consultative role. China's reluctance to engage on security issues reflects a major fault line in the strategic assessment of how it could, in realistic terms, "safeguard peace, stability and development of the region and the world at large" (as described by the Arab Policy Paper), under its grand project of reviving the Silk Road.
Yet, access to the European market via Piraeus, along with the preservation of the vital flow of resources such as energy and other raw materials from the Middle East and Africa, crucially depend on the stability of the Mediterranean region. Maintaining a safe geostrategic environment and securing the geopolitical interface of the Middle East are sine qua non conditions for the realization of the Maritime Silk Road.
No comments:
Post a Comment