ChinaMED Archive

With the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the 27-year natural gas deal signed by Beijing and Doha, and the preparations for President Xi Jinping’s early December trip to Saudi Arabia, it is not surprising that the Middle East dominates this issue of the ChinaMed Observer. Confirming what we wrote in the past, Qatar continues to be praised by Chinese commentators. Zou Zhiqiang, a scholar at...

October was a politically crucial month for China because of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. The Congress reduced the level of attention paid by Chinese media to foreign events, including those in the wider Mediterranean region. This, however, is not the only reason why this month’s ChinaMed Observer is shorter than previous issues. Protests broke out in Tehran in...

In September, Chinese media did not publish many articles on the countries of the wider Mediterranean region, or on China’s relations with them. That said, those that were published reflect growing uncertainty regarding the situation in the region as a whole. A common motif in Chinese media discourse that we have often highlighted in past issues of the ChinaMed Observer is Chinese commentators...

The most interesting articles published in Chinese media in August revolve around the future of the Iranian nuclear deal and, more broadly, Iran’s role in the Middle East. Chinese experts also commented on the end of France’s Operation Barkhane in Mali, as well as the rising great power competition in Africa. As we reported many times in the past, Chinese scholars continue to complain about the...