Xi Jinping called on Middle Eastern nations to oppose external interference and consider reshaping the region’s security order during a visit to Egypt on Wednesday, as Beijing seeks to expand its influence amid the U.S. war against Iran. The choreography was familiar: a military ceremony in Cairo, a state-to-state embrace, and ordinary people left to live inside the rival ambitions of bigger machines.
Security Order, State Order
Xi’s first trip to the Middle East in four years came as U.S. partners in the region reassessed their strategic relationships after months of conflict that have disrupted trade, shaken economies and raised questions about Washington’s long-term role. The language of “security architecture” sounds tidy enough from a podium. On the ground, it means more deals between rulers, more coordination between armed institutions, and more pressure on everyone else to adapt.
According to China’s state news agency Xinhua, Xi said countries in the region should be “masters of their own destiny” and explore a new regional “security architecture.” He also said China was ready to work with regional countries to safeguard shipping routes, an issue that has taken on greater importance after conflict disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb. Xinhua said the two leaders agreed to deepen security cooperation and counterterrorism coordination. The phrase set is doing a lot of work there. Security cooperation, counterterrorism coordination, strategic balance — the vocabulary of states that want to look like guardians while they negotiate who gets to police whom.
The two sides also agreed to expand cooperation in data centers, semiconductors and critical metals supply chains and strengthen the use of each other’s currencies in trade and investment, according to a joint statement. That’s the modern version of influence: less flag-waving, more contracts, more infrastructure, more leverage buried in supply chains and financial plumbing.
The Cairo Ceremony, the Cairo Calculus
Egypt, a major U.S. defence partner that receives around $1.3 billion annually in military aid from Washington, has been steadily increasing economic and military cooperation with China in recent years. In an article published ahead of the visit, Sisi said Egypt pursued a policy of “strategic balance” at a time of growing global rivalry. The phrase suggests independence. The numbers suggest dependence on multiple patrons at once.
Former Egyptian diplomat Ayman Zaineldine told Reuters, “Egypt wants to widen the circle of its relations with major world powers, including China. So the visions converge.” H. A. Hellyer, a scholar at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, said, “Egypt represents something quite valuable to Beijing – a large domestic market for investment opportunities, and a lot of diplomatic weight in the region, including the Palestine question, as well as connectivity to Africa.” The people in the middle of all this don’t appear in those calculations except as market size, diplomatic weight, and connectivity.
Growing military ties were on display last month during Egypt’s “Eagles of Civilization” exercises with China, which included a rare air combat drill involving Chinese-made J-16 jets and French-made Rafale aircraft. Military drills, aid, partnerships, and strategic balance. Different labels, same hierarchy.
Investment, Aid, and the Usual Suspects
Enthusiasm for Xi’s visit had been evident for days in Cairo, where streets were decked out in Chinese flags and images of iconic sites including Egypt’s Sphinx and China’s Great Wall. The pageantry was meant to signal friendship. It also signaled how thoroughly state symbolism can turn cities into backdrops for elite diplomacy.
Egypt, home to the Suez Canal and a population of more than 110 million, is an important market for China, importing some $10 billion of Chinese goods in the first half of this year alone. Chinese investment has risen rapidly since Sisi visited China and signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2014, with Chinese companies pouring billions into container ports, green hydrogen projects and facilities to make iron pipes, car tyres and satellites. Egypt’s cabinet said the Suez Canal Economic Zone has attracted about $4 billion in Chinese investment. On Wednesday, Egyptian authorities announced plans to expand a Chinese-developed industrial area in the zone, while ZC Rubber Group signed a preliminary agreement to study a $500 million tyre-making complex.
That’s the real architecture here: military aid from Washington, investment from Beijing, and a state apparatus in Cairo that can host both without blinking. The public gets ceremonies, slogans, and promises of development. The rulers get room to maneuver, and the region gets another round of great-power competition dressed up as stability.