Anoushiravan Ehteshami - How Chinas Rise is Changing the Middle East

This book explores the extent to which Chinas rise is changing the economic, security, political, and social-cultural aspects of the Middle East a region of significant strategic importance to the West and of increasing importance to the East. With its growing dependence on Middle East oil and gas, China has more at stake in this region than any other Asian power and, not surprisingly, has begun increasing its engagement with the region, with profound implications for other stakeholders. The book charts the history of Chinas links with the Middle East, discusses Chinas involvement with each of the major countries of the region, considers how Chinas rise is reshaping Middle Easterners perceptions of China and the Chinese people, and examines the very latest developments.

Anoushiravan Ehteshami is Professor of International Relations in the School of Government and International Affairs at Durham University.

Niv Horesh is Visiting Professor of China Studies in the School of Government and International Affairs at Durham University.

Series Editor: Anoushiravan Ehteshami

University of Durham

For a full list of available titles please visit: www.routledge.com/Durham-Modern-Middle-East-and-Islamic-World-Series/book-series/SE0526

Anoushiravan Ehteshami and Niv Horesh

Published in association with the Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah Programme at Durham University

First published 2020

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2020 Anoushiravan Ehteshami and Niv Horesh

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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Ehteshami, Anoushiravan, author. | Horesh, Niv, author.

Title: How Chinas rise is changing the Middle East / Anoushiravan Ehteshami and Niv Horesh.

Description: First edition. | London; New York, NY: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, 2020. | Series: Durham modern Middle East and Islamic world series; 48 | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019016741 (print) | LCCN 2019021629 (ebook) | ISBN 9780429288425 (eBook) | ISBN 9781000316391 (Adobe Reader) | ISBN 9781000336788 (Mobipocket) | ISBN 9781000357172 (ePub3) | ISBN 9780367255664 | ISBN 9780367255664(hardback) | ISBN 9780429288425(ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: ChinaForeign relationsMiddle East. | Middle EastForeign relationsChina. | ChinaForeign economic relationsMiddle East. | Middle EastForeign economic relationsChina.

Classification: LCC DS740.5.M53 (ebook) | LCC DS740.5.M53 E48 2020 (print) | DDC 327.51056dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019016741

ISBN: 978-0-367-25566-4 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-429-28842-5 (ebk)

Typeset in Times New Roman

by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear

The completion of this book would not have been possible without the support and dedication of a small army of colleagues. So, we would like to thank colleagues who had been involved in the NottinghamDurham programme for the study of Chinas presence in the Middle East, not least those who we could not meet face-to-face: John Garver and Christina Lim. First rate research assistance was provided by Xu Ruike, Amjed Rasheed and several other colleagues based in the region and elsewhere who requested anonymity. In Beijing, friendly assistance was provided by Wang Suolao. Administrative support by Lorraine Holmes and the School of Government and International Affairs at Durham University is particularly noteworthy. We also extend our warmest thanks to the reviewers of the manuscript and their helpful feedback on the original text and hope that the changes meet with their approval. And last, but not least, we are very grateful to the editorial and production teams at Routledge and those contracted by Routledge for getting us to this point. Their encouragement and professionalism provided us with all the necessary motivation to finish the book on time.

It should be clear that this book has been an interdisciplinary, multi-dimensional, multi-lingual, and multi-space research project, which has proved to be a most rewarding operational and intellectual challenge for us to manage, so while we have done everything in our power to provide a full and fluid account of our research activities, we should note that any weaknesses in the book are those of the authors only, as we could not have asked for a more competent and supportive group of allies and supporters. In the same vein, we must note that we took the decision to use a mixed referencing method in order to preserve the integrity and authenticity of the multitude of multilingual primary sources accessed and used, and to reveal the eclectic aspects of the research, and thus present these as accessibly as possible. So, while adopting the Harvard referencing system for our wide range of secondary and more easily accessible sources we also used endnotes in combination with this.

Anoush Ehteshami and Niv Horesh

June 2019

On 7 April 2017, President Trumps then five-year-old granddaughter serenaded President Xi Jinping and first lady Peng Liyuan with a popular Chinese folk song during their visit at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. On the same day, over dinner, Trump reportedly disclosed to Xi the fact that the US had just rained down missiles on the Syrian army in response to its use of chemical weapons on civilians, children included.