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Jevans Nyabiage

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged Middle Eastern nations to build a self-led security model, nudging them to cut reliance on Washington following further US-Iran military clashes.
But, on his first visit to Egypt in a decade, he did not position Beijing as an alternative security guarantor.
He made the proposal during talks with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi at Cairo’s Ittihadiya Palace on Wednesday.
Beijing and Cairo also aligned on Gaza, Red Sea security and Sudan, while China gave greater weight than it had previously to Egypt’s concerns over an Ethiopian megadam on the Nile.
Analysts said the meeting reflected Egypt’s efforts to strengthen relations with China while maintaining its ties with the United States.


The meeting came days after the US launched fresh strikes against Iranian Revolutionary Guard targets following attacks on oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz. The fighting raised fears of further disruption to oil shipments and pushed crude prices higher.
“The people of the Middle East should be masters of their own affairs,” Xi said, according to state news agency Xinhua.
He called for opposition to outside interference and said countries in the region should determine their own future, proposing what he described as “a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable” approach to security in the Middle East.
“The fundamental way to achieve lasting peace and stability in the Middle East is through development,” Xi said, referring to Beijing’s view that economic growth, trade and regional cooperation could help address the underlying causes of conflict.
Without naming any countries, Xi also said major powers outside the region should “abandon double standards”, and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of regional countries.
El-Sisi praised China’s “objective and impartial position” and said Cairo would work with Beijing to ease tensions and explore a regional security framework.

John Calabrese, a non-resident senior fellow at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, said Xi’s emphasis on “common security” carried a message about Washington’s role in the region.
“This can be read as an implicit, if thinly veiled, reminder of the limits of the US role as the region’s security guarantor, an affirmation of emerging localised arrangements such as the Mecca Defence Pact, and an alignment with Iran’s long-standing call for external security powers to reduce their presence in the region,” he said.
Calabrese said, however, that Xi was not offering China as a new external guarantor.
“Despite Xi’s calls for expanded bilateral military and security cooperation, Beijing appears to be advocating a more regionally owned security architecture rather than assuming the role of the region’s new external guarantor.”


Xi and el-Sisi said they supported the creation of a sovereign, independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on the borders of June 4, 1967, and opposed any plan to relocate Palestinians “for any reason or under any name”.
They called for consolidation of the Gaza ceasefire, unrestricted access for humanitarian aid and the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza as soon as possible, according to a joint statement released after the meeting.
On the Red Sea, China and Egypt said responsibility for governance and security rested mainly with states bordering the waterway. They called on those countries to strengthen regional cooperation, protect freedom of navigation and keep international trade moving.
On Sudan, where a civil war has pitted the Sudanese Armed Forces against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since 2023, China and Egypt called for the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity to be respected, its state institutions preserved and interference in its internal affairs avoided. They also backed a ceasefire and a Sudanese-led inclusive political process.
The joint statement also gave greater recognition to Egypt’s concerns over Nile water security. China said it understood the importance of the Nile as Egypt’s “main lifeline” and that it recognised Cairo’s “legitimate rights to safeguard its water security, food security and development interests”.
China and Egypt called on all Nile Basin countries to follow international law, including the principle of avoiding harm to other states. The joint statement did not directly criticise the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
The dam is a massive hydroelectric project built by Ethiopia on the Blue Nile, designed to expand its electricity grid. Egypt relies on the Nile for over 90 per cent of its fresh water and views the dam as an existential threat, fearing Ethiopia’s control over the river’s flow could cause severe water shortages, damage agricultural land, and compromise its own energy generation at the Aswan High Dam during dry periods.
Ethiopia says the dam is essential for electricity generation and will not harm Egypt or Sudan.
“By explicitly recognising the Nile as Egypt’s ‘lifeline’ and affirming its ‘legitimate rights’ to safeguard water and food security, Xi is giving greater rhetorical weight to Cairo’s concerns,” Calabrese said.
“With the [dam] now operational, Egypt’s water-security situation has become more acute. But Xi stopped short of criticising Ethiopia or questioning the [dam].”


David Shinn, a China-Africa specialist and former US ambassador to Ethiopia, said China came close to agreeing with Egypt on Nile water usage and accepted that Red Sea security was mainly the responsibility of littoral countries.
“These statements will raise questions in landlocked Ethiopia, the source of most Nile water reaching Egypt,” Shinn said.
“China is clearly reaching out to strengthen ties with Egypt, and Cairo is responding enthusiastically in an effort to diversify its global relationships.”
Egypt’s regional influence and control of the Suez Canal made it important to China, which had invested in port and storage projects there to support Mediterranean trade, he added.
The talks produced more than 20 cooperation documents covering the Belt and Road Initiative, artificial intelligence, trade, industrial and supply chains and the digital economy.


Despite the expanding relationship with Beijing, analysts said Cairo was unlikely to turn away from Washington.
“Egypt will still want to maintain good relations with the United States, which provides US$1.3 billion in military aid annually, far more than anything China provides,” Shinn said.
Zhiqun Zhu, a professor of political science and international relations and director of the China Institute at Bucknell University, said Egypt had taken a balanced and pragmatic approach to maintaining good relations with great powers.
“It has strong military, security and economic ties with the United States. Egypt is unlikely to take sides in the growing US-China rivalry,” he said.


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Beijing gives weight to Cairo’s water security but China’s president does not criticise Ethiopia or its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam


Beijing gives weight to Cairo’s water security but China’s president does not criticise Ethiopia or its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.


Xi Jinping’s call for Mideast to build own security framework is a message to US: expert

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Beijing gives weight to Cairo’s water security but China’s president does not criticise Ethiopia or its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

Beijing gives weight to Cairo’s water security but China’s president does not criticise Ethiopia or its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam