Newsletter: China-Middle East

Beijing's soft power

This week, Algeria inaugurated its first Confucius Institute. The region now boasts 27 of the facilities, a sign of China’s growing educational and cultural footprint.

Rosaleen Carroll
Rosaleen Carroll
Sep 25, 2025

Hi readers,  

It's UNGA week, but today I’m examining a different front in Beijing’s outreach: soft power.  

This week, Algeria inaugurated its first Confucius Institute. The region now boasts 27 of the facilities, a sign of China’s growing educational and cultural footprint. Beyond language classes and cultural events, the move is a reminder of Beijing’s steady investment in shaping perceptions across the Middle East and North Africa.  

Let's unpack,  

Rosaleen Carroll (@roscarroll_) 

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Leading this week

On Tuesday, the University of Algiers II opened Algeria’s first Confucius Institute, established in partnership with China’s Northwest Normal University. Chinese Ambassador to Algeria Dong Guangli described the launch as “an important milestone in academic and scientific cooperation between the two peoples,” according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua. The institute will offer Chinese language courses, cultural programming and exchange opportunities for students and faculty. 

The latest opening in Algeria brings the number of Confucius Institutes in the MENA region to at least 27.

Confucius Institutes, named after the sixth-century philosopher, promote Mandarin language learning and Chinese culture. The institutes host language courses for university and high school students and businesspeople, run workshops and lectures and organize exhibits, film screenings and other events. Essentially, they serve as hubs for promoting Chinese culture, and a positive image of it, abroad.  

Each is the product of agreements between Chinese universities and host institutions abroad, backed by Beijing’s Ministry of Education. They often emerge in countries where China is looking to cement longer-term partnerships.

The United States has taken notice. In August 2020, it designated the Washington-based US headquarters of the Confucius Institute as a “foreign mission” of China, requiring it to comply with reporting rules similar to those for embassies. The State Department cited a now-retired Chinese politician and senior member of the CCP Li Changchun as calling the institutes "an important part of China's overseas propaganda setup" in 2009.  In 2019, there were more than 100 of the institutes in the US. Now, according to the National Association of Scholars, there are 10. 

But the institutes are just one facet of Chinese soft power. We’ve seen cultural collaboration agreements signed between China and the UAE and China and Saudi Arabia, Chinese New Year celebrations across the Gulf, scholarship programs and joint research labs with Middle Eastern universities and, most substantially, substantial digital engagement through WeChat, TikTok or Chinese television and films.  

All these things add up to real influence. Individually, a Lunar New Year celebration, a scholarship program or a spike in TikTok users may seem small, but they provide China opportunities to normalize its presence in the region and build reservoirs of goodwill that complement its hard power investments in trade, infrastructure and security. 

Mandarin language teacher Liu Mei gestures a the blackboard at the Confucius Institute in Sierra Leone during a class for students of the Fourah Bay College Secondary School in Freetown on October, 15, 2024. (SAIDU BAH/AFP via Getty Images)

Why it matters

The real impact lies in how these initiatives tip the scales of influence across the Middle East and North Africa. Cultural imports and goodwill may not make headlines like arms deals or energy contracts, but they carry weight over time. Think of how American jazz tours during the Cold War or Turkish soap operas have shaped perceptions far beyond their home countries. China appears to be investing in that same long game in the Middle East. 

This becomes doubly important when we consider how the US is scaling back from cultural diplomacy.

In March, President Donald Trump issued an executive order dismantling the US Agency for Global Media, the parent organization of Voice of America and Middle East Broadcasting Networks. The decision cut roughly 1400 jobs from the USAGM and suspended a number of broadcasting services, including the US-funded Arabic language Al Hurra news, which ended its broadcasts in April.

Foreign aid has also been reshaped. Roughly $1.8 billion was redirected to align with “America First” priorities, which — though some of that funding will be put toward countering China — has meant a smaller USAID footprint in the Middle East, with 83% of USAID’s total programs terminated and large parts of the agency dismantled.

The reduction in US engagement creates space for China to expand its own influence. As Washington scales back from cultural and educational diplomacy in the region, Beijing seems an increasingly appealing and more practical partner. 

Photo of the week

A pedestrian crosses the flooded San Ma Lo commercial area during the passage of Super Typhoon Ragasa in Macau on Sept. 24, 2025. (Eduardo Leal/AFP via Getty Images)

Deals and visits ✈️

 

What we are reading​​

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