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Tishwash: from Iraq’s news
Bloomberg: China seeks to dominate the Middle East in a “cold” confrontation with America
Today, Saturday, the American Bloomberg Agency revealed that China is seeking to make the Middle East a major front in the “new cold war” between Beijing and Washington, with the exacerbation of differences between the two largest economies in the world on more than one level.
A report by the agency, followed by (Baghdad Today), said, “China has put its mark in the region in a way that could not have been predicted six months ago, especially through its mediation in the agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which carried with it many variables that were described as” dramatic. .
China’s footprint in the region is expanding, with Chinese Foreign Minister Chen Gang this week launching efforts to encourage the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian talks.
Chen indicated, during separate phone conversations with his Israeli counterparts Eli Cohen and the Palestinian Riyad Al-Maliki, that “his country is ready to facilitate peace talks,” according to the official “Xinhua” agency, explaining that he encouraged taking steps to resume peace talks, and that his country is ready to facilitate this matter.
Chen also stressed during the phone conversations that his country seeks to push for peace talks on the basis of a solution that “includes the establishment of two states.”
Asian Bank
On the financial front, the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank opened its first foreign office in the world, in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi.
According to the agency, the headquarters of the bank’s operational office in the Abu Dhabi Global Market aims to “serve as a strategic destination” to support its agenda.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is a multilateral development bank created nearly a decade ago as China’s answer to the financial institutions set up by Western countries.
These developments come in the wake of the “shock” that occurred in Washington, as Saudi Arabia did not refuse with the “OPEC Plus” alliance not to cut production earlier, but rather with that alliance it decided to approve a new cut this month.
“dollar power”
However, the link of exchange rates in the Middle East to the dollar remains a strong link for the United States, as is the case for its strong military and strategic relations, and therefore Washington has not lost much so far on the new front with China.
According to experts, the strength of the dollar is the main factor in the GCC countries’ use of the green card as the main currency for cross-border exchange, and therefore a sudden change would destabilize the countries themselves, so any shift must be gradual.
However, the report indicated that there are indications of changes in this field. Last March, the UAE conducted the first settlement of natural gas exports to China denominated in Chinese yuan.
“Historically, Chinese state-owned energy companies have not had the expertise to compete on equal terms with Western energy companies,” said Justin Dargin, a Middle East specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Dargin added, “This deal highlights how quickly events have developed.”
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia, which was the largest supplier of crude oil to China until it was replaced by Russia earlier this year, said that it had informed Beijing last January that it was open to discussions about using currencies other than the dollar in trade exchanges.
Saudi Arabia relies on the dollar in the settlement of more than 80% of its annual oil exports, amounting to 326 billion dollars.
In addition to Beijing becoming the main energy customer in the Middle East, many countries in the region have sought to bring in more Chinese investment.
Last week, the UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Sultan Al Jaber, was on a visit to Beijing; In an effort to enhance his country’s cooperation with China in the field of clean energy.
The visit came after China and Saudi Arabia signed a number of agreements on cooperation in the renewable energy sector and in the field of green hydrogen during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Riyadh last December.
According to the US agency’s report, China has not yet become a major headline with regard to military cooperation and the supply of weapons to the Persian Gulf, whose sea lanes have been under the supervision of the United States for a long time, and therefore it must be careful in this matter. link
