Every month, CAP features analysis from the ChinaMed Project, a joint research initiative by the Center for Mediterranean Area Studies of Peking University and the Torino World Affairs Institute, part of the TOChina Hub developed by the University of Torino.

Unsurprisingly, the assassination of Iranian Major General Soleimani by the U.S. military caught much of the attention of Chinese commentators. In this issue of the ChinaMed Observer, we contextualize the reaction of Chinese commentators to that event against the background of growing regional instability, especially in Libya. At the same time, we start to see some of the elements typical of China’s discourse on the Middle East, a push back against the politicization of Chinese economic engagement, appearing in how Chinese commentators discuss events in Southern Europe.