{"id":109294,"date":"2022-02-01T08:00:53","date_gmt":"2022-02-01T13:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=109294"},"modified":"2022-02-01T09:14:07","modified_gmt":"2022-02-01T14:14:07","slug":"nyt-as-the-u-s-pulls-back-from-the-mideast-china-leans-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=109294","title":{"rendered":"(NYT) As the U.S. Pulls Back From the Mideast, China Leans In"},"content":{"rendered":"

In January alone, five senior officials from oil-rich Arab monarchies visited China to discuss cooperation on energy and infrastructure. Turkey\u2019s top diplomat vowed to stamp out \u201cmedia reports targeting China<\/a>\u201d in the Turkish news media, and Iran\u2019s foreign minister pressed for progress on $400 billion of investment<\/a> that China has promised his country.<\/p>\n

As the United States, fatigued by decades of war and upheaval in the Middle East, seeks to limit its involvement there, China is deepening its ties with both friends and foes of Washington across the region.<\/p>\n

China is nowhere near rivaling the United States\u2019 vast involvement in the Middle East. But states there are increasingly looking to China not just to buy their oil, but to invest in their infrastructure and cooperate on technology and security, a trend that could accelerate as the United States pulls back.<\/p>\n

For Beijing, the recent turmoil in neighboring countries like Afghanistan and Kazakhstan has reinforced its desire to cultivate stable ties in the region. The outreach follows the American military\u2019s withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years, as well as the official end of its combat mission <\/a>in Iraq. That, along with the Biden administration\u2019s frequent talk of China as its top national security priority<\/a>, has left many of its partners in the Middle East believing that Washington\u2019s attention lies elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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As the US withdraws from the Middle East, China is expanding its ties in the region. It's a natural partnership in some ways: China needs oil, the Mideast wants infrastructure & tech investments & both sides are happy to overlook the other's rights abuses. https:\/\/t.co\/bQcN1uqQhD<\/a><\/p>\n

— Amy Qin (@amyyqin) February 1, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n