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Chinese Scholars Attribute Iran-Saudi Arabia Pact to Declining U.S. Influence in the Mideast and Beijing’s Personal Diplomacy

by Eric Olander
Chinese scholars, like their international counterparts, quickly took to social media and granted interviews to news outlets to air their asessments of the Iran-Saudi Arabia pact and China's role in the negotiating processs.

Chinese Mideast specialists were quicker than usual in weighing in on Friday’s Persian Gulf deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Broadly speaking, most scholars attributed China’s success in finalizing the agreement to President Xi Jinping’s commitment to “personal diplomacy” since 2014 and to the diplomatic opening created by the United States, which they largely believe has been steadily losing influence in the Mideast.

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