April 03, 2017
Middle Kingdom Meets Middle East
In a new Islamic State video that has undoubtedly caught Beijing’s eye, Uighur militants threaten to “shed blood like rivers” in China, pledge to avenge the oppressed, and burn the Chinese flag. This first apparent instance of a public Islamic State threat to China comes as an estimated one hundred Chinese nationals have left home to join the terrorist group. It also vividly illustrates the strengthening connection between security threats in the Middle East and China’s sense of its national interest.
China’s role in the Middle East has expanded in recent years, and its activism will be felt in the region and beyond. As Russia’s interventions transform Middle Eastern politics (most recently in Libya) and other external powers compete in the region, the Trump Administration will need to account for rising great-power activism as it frames its policies. In doing so, it must grapple with the new Chinese role, and how Chinese activism in the Middle East might recast the bilateral relationship generally.
In February 2011, Chinese military officials made an announcement that represented a historic first for their country: that they had redirected the frigate Xuzhou, previously deployed to the Gulf of Aden for antipiracy operations, to the shores of Libya to support the evacuation of 35,000 Chinese nationals fleeing the war there. This represented not only China’s first major expeditionary naval operation in modern times, but also its first use of long-range military transport aircraft for humanitarian purposes.
Read the full article at The American Interest.
More from CNAS
-
Assessing China’s Nuclear Decision-Making
Reports
China’s rapid nuclear buildup is raising questions about how the country makes decisions related to nuclear weapons. This policy brief analyzes that trend by presenting three ...
By Jacob Stokes
-
ChinaTalk: Building Compute in America
Podcast
Despite leading the world in AI innovation, there’s no guarantee that America will rise to meet the challenge of AI infrastructure. Specifically, the key technological barrier...
By Tim Fist & Jordan Schneider
-
Don’t Trust Russia to Mediate the Iran Nuclear Deal
Commentary
Preventing an Iranian nuclear weapon is of critical importance to U.S. security and the security of Israel and partners throughout the Middle East....
By Jonathan Lord
-
Iraq’s Population Grows to 46 Million People Following Nationwide Census
Podcast
Iraq’s population now stands at 46 million people following a nationwide census that was held in November of 2024. The census, the first in 40 years, has been billed as a succ...
By Hamzeh Hadad
