(C) Common Dreams
This story was originally published by Common Dreams and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



China’s Role in Iran-Saudi Arabia Deal Shows Xi’s Global Goals [1]

['David Pierson']

Date: 2023-03-11

When Beijing stepped into the role of mediator this week in the surprise rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, it signaled a new level of ambition for Xi Jinping, China’s top leader, who has sought to burnish his image as a global statesman in an escalating rivalry with the United States.

China’s top diplomat quickly attributed the success of four days of secret talks in reviving diplomatic ties between the two archrivals to Mr. Xi’s leadership, which he said demonstrated “the bearing of a great power.”

By taking credit for striking a peace deal in the Middle East, Mr. Xi is seizing on waning American influence in the region and presenting Chinese leadership as an alternative to a Washington-led order he depicts as driving the world toward a new cold war.

“This is a battle of narratives for the future of the international order,” said Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, a Washington-based research institute. “China is saying the world is in chaos because U.S. leadership has failed.”

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/11/world/asia/china-saudi-arabia-iran-us.html

Published and (C) by Common Dreams
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0..

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/commondreams/

You are viewing proxied material from magical.fish. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.