As the United States has stumbled from crisis to crisis in the Middle East earning a reputation for war mongering and callousness, China has quietly but rapidly been widening and extending its links, becoming a new player and substantially upgrading economic ties, especially in the Persian Gulf.

For a country relatively new to the nuances of global diplomacy, China has adroitly sought to avoid antagonizing the United States while using diplomacy and trade ties to create interdependence. In effect China has presented itself as an alternative, benign power with global reach.


Yet its late arrival in the Gulf, especially given the United States' entrenched presence and unparalleled military power, will prevent China from emerging as a definitive player for the time being. Instead, it will have to be content for the time being as a secondary power such as Britain and France. But time is on China’s side as it seeks both to secure resources for it feverishly expanding energy needs and diplomatic influence.

Certainly, China has some advantages. As a relatively new player in the Middle East, China doesn’t carry the historical baggage of being a colonial power nor has it laid out an aggressive policy to transform the region as the US has with disastrous consequences. China also has a huge market that is very attractive to Gulf investors.