CAIRO (Middle East Eye) – Across the Middle East and North Africa, China is seen as a more favorable presence than the United States. However, the region’s desire for closer economic ties with Beijing has dropped considerably over the past several years, according to new data from the Arab Barometer.
The Arab Barometer, a research project based at Princeton University, presented its new findings on Thursday at the Middle East Institute, which showed that out of the nine countries it polled, only those in the occupied Palestinian territories had less than 49 percent favorability of China.
The U.S., meanwhile, found itself having a favorability of higher than 47 percent in only four countries - Morocco, Sudan, Mauritania, and Jordan.
The U.S. is also seen by a majority of the countries polled as a greater economic threat to the region, according to the Arab Barometer.
“There is a lot of potential attractions with the economic model China has presented for the past 40 years to increase the wellbeing of the people in the country, at least in terms of income,” said Michael Robbins, project director of the Arab Barometer.
“With the United States ... its political policies are typically less popular, it’s invaded a number of countries in the region. It certainly has a tie with Israel, which as we saw is not very popular” in the region.
Over the past decade, China has emerged as a key player in the Middle East, economically, politically, and militarily.
For Middle East countries, purchasing weapons from Beijing can reduce their political dependence on the U.S. and Europe - while providing an inexpensive means to stockpile their arsenals.
Chinese weapons also come with few strings attached, unlike the U.S. and Europe, which use human rights concerns to apply some conditions on the supply of arms to some countries.
China has also emerged as the biggest buyer of Persian Gulf energy, while oil-rich monarchies have turned to Beijing for 5G and surveillance technology.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia, some of the top economic powers in the region, now rank in the top three countries globally for Chinese construction projects under the Belt and Road initiative.