Today is a public holiday in South Africa – Human Rights Day. There’s a certain irony in spending the day focusing on China’s President Xi Jinping’s visit to Vladimir Putin, knee-deep in a human rights disaster.
What one makes of the Ukraine crisis increasingly maps on where one lives. This is made clear by a remarkable new set of polling data recently published by the European Council on Foreign Relations ...
Country: Iran
How Significant Is China’s Role in the Saudi-Iran Rapprochement?
By Chris Alden, Felix Brender and Lukas Fiala Saudi Arabia’s and Iran’s decision to restore diplomatic relations has taken many observers by surprise. Even more so, the fact that Beijing was presented as the mediator bringing to an end the seven-year hiatus ...
What Lessons Should the U.S. Take From China’s Mideast Diplomatic Breakthrough?
This month's surprise announcement that China brokered the restoration of diplomatic relations between longtime rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia prompted widespread excitement in Beijing and considerable consternation among U.S. conservatives. The implication for both is that China's role in the process ...
What to Make of China’s Mideast Diplomatic Breakthrough?
New details are emerging about the landmark diplomatic deal brokered by China for Saudi Arabia and Iran to restore diplomatic relations. The initial excitement about the prospects for peace between these two Persian Gulf rivals has given way to a more ...
China Tries to Maintain Mideast Diplomatic Momentum With Summit Planned for Later This Year
China will host a summit between Iran and the Gulf Cooperation Council later this year, reports the Wall Street Journal. The summit with the six-country bloc (made up of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait) will further solidify the normalization of diplomatic ...
Israel Not Happy About the China-Brokered Iran-Saudi Arabia Deal
Few countries are as directly affected by the Saudi-Iran deal as Israel. The announcement seemed to have caught the Netanyahu government off guard and occasioned intense discussion, with incumbent and opposition politicians blaming each other for appearing “weak” and lessening Israel’s clout in the region. ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Xi Bets on Global South in Moscow
Unpacking Israeli Reactions to Iran-Saudi Deal
As Israel’s famously feisty commentariat lays into the China-brokered Iran-Saudi thaw, the country’s reactions will likely have broader impacts. Israel’s own role in the region’s security landscape is at play, but its close relationship with the United States will also influence how Washington deals with the broader ...
Iran-Saudi Pact Marks China’s Debut as Great Power Diplomatic Player
Friday's news that China brokered the final stage of a diplomatic détente between Iran and Saudi Arabia triggered a torrent of analysis in major news publications around the world. From Asia to the Middle East to the United States, two consistent ...
Amid Breathless News Coverage of the Chinese-Brokered Iran-Saudi Arabia Pact, Some Analysts Urge a More Cautious Approach
While the bulk of the discussion in the news media and on Twitter about the resumption of diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia focused on the magnitude of the deal -- both in terms of the impact on Mideast politics and because of China's surprise role ...
Chinese Scholars Attribute Iran-Saudi Arabia Pact to Declining U.S. Influence in the Mideast and Beijing’s Personal Diplomacy
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 ...
Iran-Saudi Arabia Deal Sparks National Pride on Chinese Social Media Platforms
There wasn't a huge response on Chinese social media to the news that Beijing facilitated the restoration of diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran given that it's a pretty esoteric topic for most people. Nonetheless, there was some discussion on ...