The BRICS group wrapped up its two-day leaders’ summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday. The summit’s final communique is a 16,000-word doorstop that covers numerous issues from economics to education.
The communique avoids any direct mention of the United States, and references to “unilateralism” and other coded criticism are also relatively scarce. Rather, the communique keeps the focus on the BRICS’ vision of the strengthening and reform of the global multilateral system ...
Category: Persian Gulf
Why the China–ASEAN–GCC Summit Matters and What Comes Next
The recent China–ASEAN–GCC summit, held for the first time this May, was more than a symbolic gathering. It marked a formalization of growing and increasingly institutionalized cooperation among the three regions. Bringing together China, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), ...
The Inaugural ASEAN-GCC-China Summit: Economic Aspirations Amid Strategic Ambiguity
BY Sufian Jusoh and Joanne Lin The ASEAN-GCC-China Economic Summit, set to take place in Kuala Lumpur on 27 May, under the Malaysian Chairmanship of ASEAN, marks a significant diplomatic first. It will bring together leaders from ASEAN, ...
3 Key Trends to Watch for China-Global South Ties in 2025
Trend-predicting – always a dicey enterprise – feels particularly difficult as the Biden administration dries to a crusty stain, and incoming U.S. President Donald Trump waits in the wings huddled in his signature cloud of white-hot incoherence. However, tracking a few ...
QatarEnergy Inks Gas Supply Deal for China With Shell
Qatar has agreed to supply three million tonnes of gas a year to China in a deal with London-headquartered energy giant Shell, the emirate's state energy company said on Monday. The liquefied natural gas deliveries would begin in January as part ...
How Persian Gulf Countries Are Responding to the U.S.-China Rivalry
For much of the past thirty years, since the end of the Cold War, the United States has been largely unrivaled in its power in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf. Today, that is no longer the case as the ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
China’s Xi Congratulates Iran’s Pezeshkian on Election Win
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday congratulated reformist Masoud Pezeshkian for his win in Iran's presidential runoff election, state media reported. "I attach great importance to the development of China-Iran relations and am willing to work with the President to lead the ...
Taking Stock of China’s Diplomatic Surge in the Persian Gulf
Even just a few years ago, it would have stretched credulity to argue that China was a major diplomatic player in the Persian Gulf. Today, that is no longer the case as Beijing is fast becoming one of the key actors ...
China’s Growing Influence in the Persian Gulf
It wasn't that long ago the Persian Gulf was a no-go zone for Chinese diplomacy. Back then, China didn't source much energy from Gulf countries, and its diplomats were ill-equipped to handle the region's contentious politics. That is no longer the ...
QatarEnergy Signs $6 Billion Deal With China Shipbuilder
A Chinese ship-building giant will construct 18 huge gas carriers for QatarEnergy under a $6 billion deal the Gulf firm announced on Monday. The firm hails it as the largest ever such contract. The China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) is set ...
How Israel and the Gulf States are Adapting to the U.S.-China Rivalry
The various crises unfolding in the Middle East have prompted a lot of observers to explore China's role in the region and whether Beijing will take advantage of the current instability to bolster its position in key countries, particularly at the expense of the United States.
China Importing Record Volumes of Sanctioned Iranian Oil
China is importing a record amount of Iranian crude, easily circumventing U.S. sanctions expressly designed to restrict such trade, according to new findings by the data intelligence firm Kpler. Iranian oil sales to China have jumped this year from an average ...
How Important is China’s New Role as Mideast Mediator? Depends Who You Ask.
The smiles and awkward handshake among the foreign ministers from China, Saudi Arabia and Iran last week in Beijing that finalized a once-improbable reconciliation between the two Persian Gulf rivals triggered another wave of analysis by scholars around the world about the significance of China's role as ...