China’s big geopolitical card in West Asia, the Saudi-Iran detente announced last week, is an ambitious new gambit that seeks to secure long-term economic interests as well as lay the foundations for political influence in the region, to rival the role that the United States has traditionally played.
The March 9 announcement of the deal came when the National People’s Congress, the Chinese parliament, was in session. As expected, the session confirmed President Xi Jinping’s third term. The Iran-Saudi deal appeared to usher in with a bang Xi’s new 24-character slogan for China: Be calm, be determined; seek progress and stability; be proactive and go for achievements; united under the Communist Party; dare to fight.
Wang Yi (centre), a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Ali Shamkhani (right), the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and Minister of State and national security adviser of Saudi Arabia Musaad bin Mohammed Al Aiban pose for pictures during a meeting in Beijing,
China, March 10, 2023, marking a China-brokered deal for normalising ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran.The modest hope is that the deal may lead to a lasting peace in Yemen, and also end proxy Saudi-Iran hostilities in Lebanon,
Syria and elsewhere in the region. Wang Yi (centre), a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Ali Shamkhani (right), the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and Minister of State and national security adviser of Saudi Arabia Musaad bin Mohammed Al Aiban in Beijing on March 10, 2023.(Reuters)
China’s big geopolitical card in West Asia, the Saudi-Iran detente announced last week, is an ambitious new gambit that seeks to secure long-term economic interests as well as lay the foundations for political influence in the region, to rival the role that the United States has traditionally played.