Here’s an interesting New York Times editorial by Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett. I had dinner with Hillary in Washington earlier this month, and the topic of China’s relations with Iran was raised. I agree with the editorial that an Obama administration proposal for Saudi Arabia to replace China’s oil imports from Iran is unworkable. The proposal assumes that the Chinese would be more willing to impose sanctions on Iran if they didn’t have to worry about the fact that Iran accounts for more than 10% of the country’s oil imports. I met with a senior Chinese policy advisor on Iran during a trip to Beijing last week.
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Monthly Archives: September 2009
Iran, China and a NYT editorial
China’s oil troubles in the Middle East
I heard two interesting oil stories from last week’s US visit.
First, Libya has rejected a $417 million bid by China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) for Verenex, a Canadian oil-exploration company with Libyan oil leases. Libya’s national company has since purchased Verenex at 30% less than CNPC’s offer price. I’m not sure if Libya’s response was specific to China itself, or a de-facto attempt to nationalize some of its oil assets.
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Time To Rethink Policy
I am in the U.S. this week, speaking at the State Department, Columbia University and CSIS. I intend to use the opportunity to test drive one of my favourite themes.
In a globalized world it is time to view China and the Middle East as part of the same policy challenge, rather than two distinct challenges.
How so? The growing commercial relations between the two mean that a change in one affects the other. I am thinking specifically about jobs. The rise of China has resulted in a historic shift of manufacturing from the industrialized to the industrializing world. It is a shift that is unlikely to reverse.
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Quality control problems in Saudi Arabia
China might have overtaken the United States as the world’s largest exporter to the Middle East. But it still has quality issues. Two separate articles highlight the concerns.
Al Aswaq Al Arabiya is reporting that cheap Chinese goods are flooding the Saudi market to cause health and environmental concerns. The article largely lays the blame on Saudi traders who are accepting lower quality for cheaper prices. It claims that the agencies responsible for inspecting such imports are too weak.
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The Silent Crisis
It is easy to feel giddy about the rise of the Silk Road. But the outcome is far from guaranteed. One threat in particular might yet bring the region to its knees.
Water.
There is no escaping the Silk Road’s water shortages. The region is one of the driest parts of the planet. Yet, water is needed to run everything from textile factories in China, five-star hotels in Dubai, to washing- machines in Cairo.
Let’s start with a few figures. The Silk Road has an average of 2,260 cubic meters of internal renewable water per person. The equivalent figure is 9,300 in the United States. In fact, an abundance of water is an important, but often overlooked, reason why the United States might defy its critics and remain the world’s major power through the end of this century.
Silk Road cartoons
I’ve posted some cartoons drawn by a friend in China. She is an Arabic speaker, passionate about the Middle East, and now works for the Chinese government trying to attract Arab investors to a major coastal city. Her cartoons are delightful and capture the cultural engagement between China and the Middle East. The set below show an exchange between an Arab investor, his Chinese guide, and the differences between a pagoda and a minaret.
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