Strategic Assessment

China’s involvement in the Middle East has increased in recent years, and notwithstanding the assumption that Beijing has no interest in intervening in regional processes, a shift toward political involvement is evident. At the same time, the nature of Chinese involvement in the region is as yet unclear, particularly in view of the gradual and at times obscure nature of the change in its behavior. This article assesses the pattern of Chinese involvement in the Middle East in recent years through two test cases: the Libyan and Syrian crises. It appears that China’s near-exclusive reliance on economic motives, its conformity to Russian policy in all matters pertaining to the Middle East, the centralized management of its foreign policy, and its avoidance of taking a stand in regional disputes are assumptions not fully supported by the events. The article thus proposes several alternative explanations for the pattern of Chinese involvement in the region.