Coronavirus Strengthened China–MENA Ties

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant changes in how the world operates. As the United States and China argue who is responsible for the widespread vastness of COVID-19, Bejing has made a donation to Jordan to help them fight the spread.

 “It builds upon the outreach it has made throughout the Middle East during the pandemic, which has helped improve its image after the initial outbreak in Wuhan,” said Jonathan Fulton, assistant professor in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi. “It also provides China with an opportunity to demonstrate its usefulness as a partner, having established a strategic partnership with Jordan in 2015.”

According to Fulton, previously, MENA region countries would have received support from the United States, however, due to domestic issues in the U.S., along with its response to COVID-19 has forced the MENA region to seek help from other countries, adding that China has decided to capitalize on the U.S.’s lack of leadership.

Dr. Mordechai Chaziza, a senior lecturer in the Department of Politics and Governance at Ashkelon Academic College in Israel, and author of China and the Persian Gulf: The New Silk Road Strategy and Emerging Partnerships, says that China has been helping additional countries in the region as well and that those nations also helped China back when the COVID-19 outbreak began.

Chaziza noted that both Qatar and Saudi Arabia had sent health supplies to China, while Israel sent masks and personal protective equipment, such as suits, goggles and shoes.

Despite this, Chaziza says it’s too soon to tell what the COVID-19 outbreak will do to relations between the Middle East and China long-term, saying “once the coronavirus is brought under control, countries still struggling to rebound from the related economic shocks could use the outbreak as an excuse to abandon unsuccessful or politically unpopular projects with China. Beijing may find new opportunities to expand its footprint in countries seeking to foster economic development.”

In summary, the outbreak of COVID-19 has changed the way in which countries across the world interact with each other. Capitalizing on what appears to be a lack of leadership in the United States, China and the Middle East are continually seeking new ways to foster their relationship. As such, we rate the claim that the COVID-19 pandemic has helped bolster the relationship between China and Middle Eastern countries as “True.”