, Columnist
US Doesn’t Need to Block China Everywhere All at Once
Beijing will inevitably notch more diplomatic coups such as the Saudi-Iran rapprochement. That doesn’t mean Washington should spread itself thin trying to compete.
Xi is making inroads from Latin America to the Middle East.
Photographer: Sergio Lima/AFP/Getty Images
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China has long tried to avoid being dragged into the Middle East’s treacherous geopolitical currents. With its brokering of a diplomatic rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, however, Beijing appears to have stolen a march on Washington in a region the latter has dominated for decades.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s diplomatic coup has set off alarms about the coming end of a regional order long underwritten by the US.