Xi’s Cairo visit marks a strategic shift in the geopolitics of the Middle East. By strengthening its partnership with Cairo and promoting the concept of “regional autonomy,” China seeks to replace Western influence with a new architecture of security and economic cooperation.
A Meeting That Means More Than Diplomacy
From warm welcomes and handshakes to bilateral ties, from regional tensions to a new Middle East, this visit is comprised of various significant key takeaways that could form the basis of any future development in the region and beyond. This signals a lot. China sees Cairo as an important partner in expanding its political and economic footprint. Whatever may happen between Cairo and Beijing will have wider implications.
President Xi in Cairo: Once-in-a-Century Moment
“Soft power is the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion.” (Joseph Nye)
To completely confine the scope and objectives of this visit to the ongoing regional as well as international uncertainty would be an injustice. Such types of visits are planned months and even years ago. President Xi’s visit to Egypt should not be considered a reaction to the ongoing regional volatility; rather, it just coincides with these developments. The PRC has always focused on long-term planning, unlike the US presidents, in particular Trump, who conduct state-to-state relations on the basis of a give-and-take policy or action-and-reaction formula.
As part of this tour, President Xi Jinping had discussions with the Egyptian premier, Abdel Fattah El Sisi. Both leaders expressed their agreement on major regional matters such as the importance of protecting Egypt’s access to water from the Nile River, maintaining the ceasefire in Gaza, and restating the commitment of Egypt’s companies to the one-China policy. There were economic, industrial, and diplomatic agreements signed by the two nations, with five signed agreements and over 20 more agreements covering areas such as the digital economy, semiconductors, and shipbuilding.
Emboldening the Cairo-Beijing partnership, President Xi stated,
“The China-Egypt comprehensive strategic partnership has realized leapfrog development. The two sides share similar visions and converging strategies in the cause of achieving development and revitalization, enhancing people’s well-being, and defending international fairness and justice. Faced with the changing and turbulent international and regional situation, the two countries should support each other, deepen cooperation, and continue to build a China-Egypt community with a shared future.”
Fostering Diplomatic Relations
Both countries support each other on their territorial issues. President Xi openly supported Egypt’s right to Nile waters, while Egypt’s Sisi explicitly reiterated his country’s stance on Taiwan as an inseparable and indispensable part of China. In the joint communiqué, both nations appreciated the significance of the Nile River to Egypt as its sole source of life and Cairo’s legitimate concern over the security of water and food in the country. Both presidents asked all Nile countries to adhere to international law and their obligations under it, not to inflict any harm.
On the other hand, the Egyptian side reiterated its non-interference in China’s internal matters and its commitment to the principle of “one China,” which holds that Taiwan is an integral part of the territory of the People’s Republic of China. Egypt also showed support for the Chinese position on the issues related to its sovereignty and territorial integrity and also supported its unification.
China Eyeing Suez Canal
When common scholars and politicians could predict some few years ago about the upcoming US’s war against Iran and the expected closure of Strait of Hormuz, then how can one imagine that the Chinese strategic circles were unaware about any such possibility in the near future. That’s why we have observed that even prior to the US-Iran war, China has been engaged in devising alternative routes to the Hormuz and finding diverse partners other than Iran.
That doesn’t mean abandoning Iran; rather, it simply means diversifying the partnership in the best interest of the state and its people. Be it Saudi Arabia, the UAE, or other Gulf countries, China has been developing closer economic ties with them. This visit is also a caution of that foreign policy approach. Now, as the Hormuz trade is disrupted, the significance of the Suez Canal is once again in the limelight.
In a letter to al-Sisi, prior to the visit, President Xi mentioned,
“China firmly supported Egypt’s sovereignty over the Suez Canal…. China and Egypt have always been reliable partners in win-win cooperation. Egypt is China’s major trading and investment partner in the Arab world and Africa, and one of the first countries to participate in Belt and Road cooperation. As early as ten years ago, President El-Sisi and I jointly unveiled the China-Egypt Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone. The project has drawn substantial investment, created a large number of local jobs, and helped in Egypt’s endeavor to expedite its modernization.”
This statement simply means that China wants Egypt to further enhance and foster Cairo-Beijing economic ties and major trade development projects, linking Egypt’s Suez with that of China’s BRI. As the regional countries are also diversifying their economic as well as security partnerships amid the ever-increasing US conservatism, President Xi’s visit tried to fill that gap, providing the regional countries with an alternative, secure and prosperous model.
A New Middle East: Xi Proposes a New Model
Sun Tzu once noted, “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.” In their joint statement following the talks, Cairo and Beijing said that the Palestinian question was the key question in the Middle East and demanded the urgent consolidation of the Gaza ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian access and also the prompt return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza.
The two capitals said that they reject any schemes that would displace the Palestinians from their land under whatever guise. The two said that they are concerned about the dangerous Israeli escalation in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem through acts of settlers, confiscation of land, and construction of settlements. They also demanded respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sudan and expressed their determination to collaborate to end the conflict in Sudan and start the Sudanese political process.
Moreover, with respect to the signing of a defense pact between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, President Xi urged Egypt and the other regional countries to establish a common security architecture. Xi proposed a four-point formula that states:
- Let the Middle East Shape Its Own Security
- Put Palestine Back at the Center
- Build Peace Through Shared Prosperity
- End Double Standards and Defend Sovereignty
To simply put, these proposed points can be considered a Chinese blueprint for replacing external intervention with a new Middle Eastern security architecture. Only regional countries, or if not wrong to say, the global south, have the right to rule themselves and opt for strategic autonomy. No external power should be given exclusive rights to coerce any country. Thus, Xi’s embrace of el-Sisi is not a mere bilateral embrace but rather an indication that the world is shifting eastwards and the Middle East has become a part of that changing world.
Taut Bataut is a researcher and writer who publishes on South Asian geopolitics.
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