China’s Middle East Opportunity

Since President Xi Jinping took office in 2013, China has been pursuing its own version of strategic rebalancing in foreign policy. China aims to re-position itself as “a state in the middle”, acting as a bridge among the developed and developing countries and maximizing the strategic space. If Chinese diplomacy and Beijing’s “connectivity” can ease the crisis in the Middle East, the achievement would affirm the nation’s rise to great-power status.

Zhao Minghao, Research Fellow, China Center for Contemporary World Studies via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1R10OjT