The Royal Jordanian Armed Forces Band performs during the Second China-Arab States Expo in Yinchuan, northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, on September 10, 2015 (XINHUA)

On January 13, China published its first Arab policy paper, reaffirming the strategic significance that it attaches to the region. The release of this important document and the recent state visits of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran coincided with the 60th anniversary of Sino-Arab diplomatic relations and present the role that China seeks to play in the Middle East.

As mentioned in China's Arab Policy Paper, Xi had already pointed out areas and trends of priority for cooperation for the relevant parties in his speech opening the Sixth Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum in Beijing in June 2014. Now the agenda for dialogue with Arab and Iranian leaders includes economic cooperation, anti-terrorism, the Syrian crisis, and the acceleration of free trade agreement negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Mediation: a role for China?

China has long remained distant from Middle East conflicts, trying to maintain a neutral stance. Meanwhile, the United States is unlikely to have a big chance of success in mediating a political settlement of the current diplomatic tussle between Iran and Saudi Arabia, due to their deep distrust of America's interests in the region. Nor has the United States succeeded in its over half a century of mediation efforts between Arabs and Israelis. The series of imbroglios into which the United States has been drawn demonstrate that playing referee in the Middle East while trying to protect American interests is no easy task.

In Syria, Washington's role is perceived negatively by all parties. In Yemen, the U.S. Government first supported the GCC initiative that brought to power the government of Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and opposed the coup attempt of the Houthi (supported by Iran), before turning to criticize Saudi Arabia's endless war in that country. In Iraq, the Americans have also lost their bets, being criticized by all those involved. Actually, the problem is not that the Americans have been passive, but have been over-actively involved militarily in those conflicts, either by arming, pushing or fighting.