For years, China tried to have it both ways in the Middle East. It wanted cheap Iranian oil without the burden of getting entangled with the Ayatollah regime. It wanted Gulf investment, Gulf markets, and Gulf goodwill, while also keeping ties to Tehran. It wanted America tied down in endless regional crises, but without the sort of chaos that would send energy prices soaring. Above all, Xi Jinping wanted to build the image of China as a rising, benevolent superpower that plays by the rules while the US overreaches.
US President Donald Trump’s war on Iran has exposed the fragility of that strategy.
