China Tracker-Special Edition

There’s something different that I want to share with you from MBN today.

China is America’s leading geopolitical and economic competitor across the world. This competition is playing out as well in the region we cover closely. So we’ve created The China Tracker, a new data-driven information service on how and where Beijing is wielding its influence in the Middle East, and whether it’s succeeding. With regular updates to our data-sets from Chinese, American and Middle Eastern sources, and in journalism based on this original information, MBN will, as the name suggests, track China’s relationships in the region for our Arabic-speaking audience. I can think of no better way to understand the shifting power dynamics in the region, ones that have global implications.

Today we unveil the first tracker – on military and security influence – and will follow up in coming weeks on four others. Next year, we plan to introduce an influence index. It’s an exciting and different way to bring into focus one of the most important global stories.

I joined MBN earlier this fall, after a long run at Radio Free Asia and most recently heading up the Frontline Media Fund. The team here was looking to find a different way to capture China’s actions and ambitions globally, not least vis-a-vis the U.S., and we thought the Tracker was an exciting way to do it. It wouldn’t have been possible without the unmatched data and design team of Paul Wang, Victoria Jin, and Youssef Saoud. This trio has worked across three languages and multiple datasets to bring it to life.

Please let us know what you think at Chinatracker@mbn-news.com. This is a living project and we’ll add new data and topics as we go along.

You can read this newsletter and see the entire package in Arabic. If you were forwarded this email, you can subscribe to the MBN newsletter suite in English or Arabic.

Min Mitchell

China’s strategic moves across the Middle East and North Africa have accelerated in ways that feel less like isolated headlines and more like deliberate pieces placed on a widening chessboard. Beijing’s joint naval drills with Saudi Arabia in the Gulf last month, its high-level military procurement talks with Algeria earlier this year, and its expanding role in regional crisis diplomacy all underscore a shift: China is no longer simply reacting to events in the region – it is seeking to shape the board itself.

Like a patient weiqi player placing stones along the edge of the board, China is building influence not through one dramatic move, but through accumulated presence: a military exercise and port call here, a surveillance contract, cybersecurity agreement and trade deal there.

That is why we built The China Tracker.