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Commentary
Wall Street Journal

Can China Help in the Middle East?

It is a more formidable potential adversary than Russia or Iran but shares interests with the US.

walter_russell_mead
walter_russell_mead
Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken meets with China's Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on June 19, 2023. (Department of State via Flickr)
Caption
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken meets with China's Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on June 19, 2023. (Department of State via Flickr)

As Team Biden contemplates the ruins of its Middle East diplomacy and scrambles to throw more U.S. military assets into the region in the hope of deterring Iran, it is looking to an unlikely partner. China鈥檚 Foreign Minister Wang Yi will be  this week  with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

Mr. Wang鈥檚 visit was originally part of a diplomatic process preparing the way for a trip by President Xi Jinping to next month鈥檚 Asia-Pacific economic summit in San Francisco. But as Mr. Blinken  to the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, America wants help from China to prevent a wider war in the Middle East.