Chang, Parris H

Abstract
Beijing’s policy toward the Middle East has evolved as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has risen in power and as the Middle East and the rest of the world has undergone economic and political change. Through much of the Cold War era, the PRC had few diplomatic partners in the region and was relatively inactive there. Its interests were primarily ideological and its propaganda focused on China’s revolutionary credentials, presenting the PRC as the natural ally of the anti-colonial and anti-imperialist Arab states. Beijing’s virulent attacks were directed not only at what it considered Western colonial and imperialist control and exploitation, but also at the revisionist Soviet collusion with the United States. From the late 1970s on, Beijing’s operations in the Middle East became more pragmatic and pluralistic, transcending ideology. As the PRC grew in economic and diplomatic strength, Beijing became increasingly keen on expanding its influence and asserting its interests in the region, seeking to shape geopolitics in its favor. Since the 1980s, China’s burgeoning economy in the wake of Deng Xiaoping’s crusade for “opening and reform” has generated two additional major policy priorities in the Middle East. One is the development and consolidation of energy resources. The other is the pursuit of investment opportunities and consumer markets for Chinese goods.
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