Beijing, China - Funny you should ask. Only yesterday, over a cup of coffee, a seasoned editor and I came to the conclusion that expressing opinions on the Middle East must be a pain in the you-know-what for the Chinese government.
On the one hand, they want to show solidarity with the West on issues such as terrorism; on the other hand they are completely tongue-tied because they have a huge domestic Muslim population.
China is being pushed to assume a world superpower role. But our policy research institutes aren't ready to provide adequate information and recommendations to the Chinese leadership. If the top leaders want a Baker-Hamilton report, they wouldn't know whom to call. For too long, Chinese academics and policy analysts have spent their time trying to figure out what the leadership wants to hear, not what they should hear.
As a result, Chinese statements often seem empty. If indeed the American era in the Middle East is over, then there is much scrambling to do on the Chinese side to come up with a coherent Middle East policy. Until then, please don't ask.
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