West Asia CHANGES Forever. The New China-Iran Relationship | Sheng Zhang

Pascal Lottaz speaks with Sheng Zhang, visiting fellow at Koç University’s Center for Asian Studies, on China’s changing view of Iran after the war, Beijing’s split between Iran and the Gulf states, military lessons from Iranian strategy, the Strait of Hormuz, Trump’s Beijing visit, and the wider message for US bases, trust, and power in West Asia and East Asia.

Links:

Sheng Zhang at Johns Hopkins University

https://soc.jhu.edu/directory/sheng-zhang/

Sheng Zhang at Association for Global Political Thought

https://globalpoliticalthought.hsites.harvard.edu/people/sheng-zhang

Achilles’ Heel Self-Contradictions in the BRI’s Middle East Agendas Aggravate Limitations of the Iran-China Partnership

https://preprint.press.jhu.edu/anp/sites/default/files/Asian%20Perspective_preprint_Sheng%20Zhang_%28Spring%202026%29.pdf

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Timestamps:

00:00:00 Introduction

00:00:20 China sees Iran in a new light

00:09:29 Iranian unity and wartime resolve

00:13:16 China between Iran and Gulf states

00:21:25 Military lessons from the Iran war

00:29:31 Hormuz shipping and China relations

00:36:33 China’s wider regional message

00:40:24 Trump in Beijing with no real deal

00:56:24 East Asia lessons on US bases

01:05:36 Guest links and upcoming pape