Chinas Nahost-Moment gerät ins Stocken

*Beijing’s rise as a regional power broker at the US’s expense has lost momentum amid its reluctance to take on a sustained political or security role.*

*Peter Martin and Sam Dagher for Bloomberg News*

Three years ago, analysts in Washington worried that China was emerging as a power broker in the Middle East, an area where the US had dominated for decades. This realignment was announced in March 2023, when Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to restore diplomatic ties with each other after years of barely speaking — following secret negotiations held not in the US or even the Middle East, but around a triangular table in Beijing.

It seemed like a landmark moment, capping years of creeping Chinese influence in the region. And yet, in recent months China has taken a backseat on every major political issue in the Middle East and appears to be a fringe player in the region once again. The recent violent unrest in Iran — China’s top strategic partner in the Middle East — is another blow to Beijing.

“During Trump’s first term and under Biden, China seemed to be everywhere [in Middle East politics] and the Saudi-Iran deal crystallized it,” said Michael Singh, former Senior Director for Middle East Affairs on the National Security Council under George W. Bush. “But now the China challenge is starting to wane.”

[Read the full essay here.](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-30/china-s-middle-east-influence-wanes-as-the-us-reasserts-its-power?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2OTc2NjU5NSwiZXhwIjoxNzcwMzcxMzk1LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUOU5LNFJLR0NURk8wMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJEMzU0MUJFQjhBQUY0QkUwQkFBOUQzNkI3QjlCRjI4OCJ9.JAvLf18knI1ljBs63AstgtJllIN7RD7jHrZwzagbkDA)

One thing you can certain of though- China’s political setup allows them to play the long game like no one else can. It doesn’t mean there wont be errors and that there cant be black swan events that rearrange calculations. But it means they can think in generations