News Letter

THE NEW SILK ROAD: CHINA’ ENERGY POLICYAND STRATEGY IN THE MENA REGION

SBE, Vol.20, No.1, 2017

ISSN 1818-1228

Qatar University

Sager, Olimat and Kemp

have underlined

the complexity of the relationship between

China and oil-rich MENA countries, the direct

benefits of such relationship for the states in

partnership, as well as its global impact for

other MENA oil-importers. Well known to

protect Middle Eastern oil-sources to ensure

that American energy needs are satisfied, one

cannot analyze China’s involvement in the

region without touching on the United States’

role. In

The Vital Triangle: China, the U.S., and

the Middle East

, John B. Alterman and John

W. Garver look at the trilateral relationship

between China, the U.S., and the Middle East,

arguing that all three regions’ economies are

intrinsically connected like the three sides

of a triangle. The authors contextualize this

complex relationship where each region’s

decision impacts the other two. China’s trade

relationships with some of the traditional U.S.

allies (Saudi Arabia) and simultaneously with

contested candidates (Sudan and Iran) has led

to a deep politicization of China’s involvement

with these countries. Combined with the

nature of oil as the most traded commodity

in the world, China’s oil interests has sparked

discussions to say the least.

This paper explores China’s energy policy in

the MENA region by studying three cases:

Sudan in North Africa and Saudi Arabia and

Iran in the Middle East. We argue that China’s

oil policy is very much driven by the Beijing

Consensus which advocates pure economic

growth, and that Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran

Sager, Abdulaziz, ‘GCC-China Relations: Looking

beyond Oil-risks and Rewards’, in Abdulaziz, Sager,

Geoffrey, Kemp (eds), China’s Growing Role in the

Middle East. Washington, DC: Nixon Center, 2010, Pp.

1–22. Yuan, (2010); Olimat, Muhamad S. “The Political

Economy of the Sino-Middle Eastern Relations.”

Journal of Chinese Political Science

15 (2010): 307–35,

and G. KEMP, The East moves West: India, China, and

Asia’s growing presence in the Middle East , Brookings

Institution Pres, 2010, Pp. 232.

all have important mutual oil interests with

China. Where necessary, we incorporate the

concerns of the United States on diverse faces

of the Sino-Sudanese, Sino-Saudi Arabian, and

Sino-Iranian partnerships. We find that despite

the apprehension exhibited by the United

States regarding the increasing relations

between China and the Middle East, China

wishes to avoid direct confrontation with

Washington and vehemently avoids the use

of threat for economic gains. China’s Middle

East policy aims to mitigate or circumvent

potential tensions with the US. Wu argues that

China’s involvement in the Middle East is only

motivated by energy interests and is absolutely

not going to weaken its relationship with the

United States

. Likewise, Chubin argues that

China has constantly been cautious with the

United States and has avoided provoking

Washington

. By expanding its reach in

MENA, China is also diversifying its trade

relations—a concept that is encouraged by the

Beijing Consensus—and so are simultaneously

Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. Hence, the

web of oil partnerships is shifting from an

omnipotent bilateral relationship between the

United States and oil-rich developing states to

a more diverse arena where multidimensional

relationships are possible between developing

states.

We first examine China’s growing need for

oil, its strategy to ensure a steady supply, and

its reasons for expanding its influence to the

MENA. Since Chinese oil politics take place

within the framework of the Beijing Consensus,

we explain the dynamics underlying it and

2 Wu, L. The Middle East Oil and the Sino-U.S. Relations.

Cambridge: Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies

(in Asia)

3(4),

2007.Pp

-34.

Chubin, S.

Iran and China: Political Partners or

Strategic Allies, in China’s Growing Role in the Middle

East: Implications for the Region and Beyond.

Washington:

The Nixon Centre (2012). Available from

http://cftni.org/full-monograph-chinas-growing-role-in-

me.pdf [Accessed 21 November 2015].