Chinese and US flags flutter near the Bund in Shanghai. A contest is brewing between the two powers around the world. Reuters
Chinese and US flags flutter near the Bund in Shanghai. A contest is brewing between the two powers around the world. Reuters
Chinese and US flags flutter near the Bund in Shanghai. A contest is brewing between the two powers around the world. Reuters
Chinese and US flags flutter near the Bund in Shanghai. A contest is brewing between the two powers around the world. Reuters

Is US-China conflict in West Asia inevitable?


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The idea that the Middle East and West Asia could become the stage for a potential US-China Cold War is gaining significant media attention these days. It is, however, not new by any means.

Rising competition is only likely to add impetus to China's desire to cement its footprint in the region. This will have long-term and significant implications for many countries in the region that might be caught in the proverbial crossfire. Previous analysis has long cited the strategic importance China attaches to the Middle East as its primary source for its energy needs, but also as an overland and maritime route to international markets.

A key feature of this analysis is that American influence over these routes is a major source of leverage in the current global contest for power – even outside the very remote possibility of a direct military confrontation. The control of access routes has largely explained the motivation behind a number of Chinese investments, such as the Belt and Road Initiative and String of Pearls theory, a massive series of infrastructure projects to build multiple overland and maritime access routes throughout the region.

One of these investments is the $62 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which terminates in the Pakistani port of Gwadar where China is building large facilities. This investment reduces China's distance to the Arabian Gulf from more than 9,000 kilometres to just over a 1,000km (Gwadar is only 400km to Oman, where China is also heavily invested in building port facilities estimated at $10bn in value).

A print showing Venetian merchant Marco Polo, who travelled to China via the Silk Road. A new and modern Silk Route is currently being built. Getty Images
A print showing Venetian merchant Marco Polo, who travelled to China via the Silk Road. A new and modern Silk Route is currently being built. Getty Images

The motivations behind these Chinese investments have been long recognised. As is the case with other powers, Beijing's investment policy has also been acknowledged as one of the important tools in its strategic arsenal. However, the rationale behind the other primary areas of Chinese investment – namely mining, energy and telecommunications – gains significantly less attention and could potentially be more significant for both the US and the region.

These can broadly be summarised as follows: ensuring security of supply for China’s economy, gaining leverage over the US, and creating greater regional dependence on China.

Regarding Chinese investments in the region’s mining sector, the motivations appear two-fold: to ensure security of supply, and to gain leverage over the US. In the case of uranium ore, for instance, it is clearly the former: China needs to ensure security of supply to power its nuclear reactors, the numbers for which are growing at a rate that will make the country surpass France as the second-largest generator of nuclear energy by 2022, with projections that it would claim the top spot from the US by 2026.

The reasons for investing in rare earth minerals, such as lithium, are a little more complex: while China is interested in developing an economic advantage in key sectors, such as batteries and advanced electronics, it also appears intent on gaining leverage over the US by controlling rare earth minerals that are necessary components for advanced US weapons systems. China has little-to-no concern with security of supply in this case. It already has a near monopoly on their production – controlling around 90 per cent of the global market – which in turn seems to have prompted the US military to fund rare earth plants last December, marking its first financial investment into commercial-scale rare earths production since the Manhattan Project during the Second World War.

China’s investment in the region’s energy infrastructure is also determined by the need for security of supply. Considering that it has become the region’s primary energy importer, this motivation is a given. But in some countries hard-pressed to meet domestic demand, Beijing's pursuit of less economically viable energy infrastructure investments might raise questions over its motivations.

Also intriguing is its investment strategy in the region’s telecommunications sector – integral its so-called Digital Silk Road initiative. 5G technology may, for instance, have the potential to embed the region in a “China-led digital domain", to borrow a phrase by Alexander Gabuev, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Centre.

In this 2017 file photo, an attendee at a conference looks up near a portrait of Chinese President Xi Jinping with the words 'Xi Jinping and One Belt One Road' and 'One Belt One Road strategy' in Beijing. China's BRI project runs through West Asia. AP Photo
In this 2017 file photo, an attendee at a conference looks up near a portrait of Chinese President Xi Jinping with the words 'Xi Jinping and One Belt One Road' and 'One Belt One Road strategy' in Beijing. China's BRI project runs through West Asia. AP Photo

The US worries about investments it believes could generate greater dependence on China, with its concern being that, in the future they could act as a reason for the region’s leaders to either take more favourable positions towards China in their disputes with the US, or at least dissuade them from taking positions that are more aligned with American interests. Numerous US administrations have sought to prevent allies from allowing Chinese investments in some industries.

The US has been more successful in limiting Chinese investment in mining but that also may be changing soon, especially as countries in the region enter the civilian nuclear energy market.

For their part, countries in the region appear largely indifferent that the motivations behind Chinese investments are part of a grand strategy in its global contest of power and competition with the US. Even for those countries that are more strategically aligned with the US and its interests, there may still desire to cultivate the relationship with China and reap the potentially transformative benefits being promised while at times underestimating or overlooking the consequences.

However, this rivalry may still not be significant enough to shape and dictate politics in the region – as with other periods of superpower rivalry – even though it could lead to further divisions in an already divided region, and undermine what little regional co-operation already exists. The argument for the inevitability of direct or indirect conflict between the US and China is not as strong as some suggest. Neither is the argument that China is interested in dislodging the US from its traditional role in the region, or could if it wanted to.

The region may not have to choose sides but it will nonetheless become further embroiled in this brewing contest.

Nasser bin Nasser is the managing director of the Middle East Scientific Institute for Security and the founder of the strategic consultancy firm, InfoSynth

Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJune%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohammed%20Alnamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMicrofinance%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E16%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFamily%20offices%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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Sanju

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Director: Rajkumar Hirani

Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Paresh Rawal, Anushka Sharma, Manish’s Koirala, Dia Mirza, Sonam Kapoor, Jim Sarbh, Boman Irani

Rating: 3.5 stars

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Infiniti QX80 specs

Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6

Power: 450hp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000

Available: Now

Dates for the diary

To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:

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Biog

Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara

He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada

Father of two sons, grandfather of six

Plays golf once a week

Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family

Walks for an hour every morning

Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India

2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business

 

Fifa Club World Cup quarter-final

Kashima Antlers 3 (Nagaki 49’, Serginho 69’, Abe 84’)
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W.
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(Rotana)

The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Power: 510hp at 9,000rpm
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Price: From Dh801,800
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Company profile

Name: Back to Games and Boardgame Space

Started: Back to Games (2015); Boardgame Space (Mark Azzam became co-founder in 2017)

Founder: Back to Games (Mr Azzam); Boardgame Space (Mr Azzam and Feras Al Bastaki)

Based: Dubai and Abu Dhabi 

Industry: Back to Games (retail); Boardgame Space (wholesale and distribution) 

Funding: Back to Games: self-funded by Mr Azzam with Dh1.3 million; Mr Azzam invested Dh250,000 in Boardgame Space  

Growth: Back to Games: from 300 products in 2015 to 7,000 in 2019; Boardgame Space: from 34 games in 2017 to 3,500 in 2019

Courses%20at%20Istituto%20Marangoni%2C%20Dubai
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The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo

Power: 178hp at 5,500rpm

Torque: 280Nm at 1,350-4,200rpm

Transmission: seven-speed dual-clutch auto

Price: from Dh209,000 

On sale: now

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Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
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Key facilities
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  • Premier League-standard football pitch
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THE SPECS

      

 

Engine: 1.5-litre

 

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

 

Power: 110 horsepower 

 

Torque: 147Nm 

 

Price: From Dh59,700 

 

On sale: now  

 
COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed 

The specs

Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
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7. Alexander Zverev (GER) 2,945 (-1)
8. Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 2,670 ( 1)
9. Roberto Bautista (ESP) 2,540 ( 1)
10. Gaël Monfils (FRA) 2,530 ( 3)
11. David Goffin (BEL) 2,335 ( 3)
12. Fabio Fognini (ITA) 2,290
13. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 2,180 (-2)
14. Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 2,125 ( 1)
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16. Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 2,000
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18. Alex De Minaur (AUS) 1,775
19. John Isner (USA) 1,770 (-2)
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Volvo ES90 Specs

Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)

Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp

Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm

On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region

Price: Exact regional pricing TBA

Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDirect%20Debit%20System%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sept%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20with%20a%20subsidiary%20in%20the%20UK%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Undisclosed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elaine%20Jones%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer

Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000

Engine 3.6L V6

Transmission: Six-speed automatic

Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm

Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm

Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km

Company%20profile
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Winner: Ashton Tourettes, Sam Hitchcott, Ibrahim Aseel.

3.15pm: Conditions (PA) Dh60,000 2,000m.

Winner: Hareer Al Reef, Gerald Avranche, Abdallah Al Hammadi.

3.45pm: Maiden (PA) Dh60,000 1,700m.

Winner: Kenz Al Reef, Gerald Avranche, Abdallah Al Hammadi.

4.15pm: Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Cup (TB) Dh 200,000 1,700m.

Winner: Mystique Moon, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson.

4.45pm: The Crown Prince Of Sharjah Cup Prestige (PA) Dh200,000 1,200m.

Winner: ES Ajeeb, Sam Hitchcott, Ibrahim Aseel.

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Jawbone Press

THE SPECS

Engine: Four-cylinder 2.5-litre

Transmission: Seven-speed auto

Power: 165hp

Torque: 241Nm

Price: Dh99,900 to Dh134,000

On sale: now

How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

Lexus LX700h specs

Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor

Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km

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Price: From Dh590,000

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs

Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors

Power: 480kW

Torque: 850Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)

On sale: Now