ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the factors that shape the United Arab Emirates' UAE's international political choices at the international and domestic levels. In terms of systemic pressures, Emirati leadership has perceived hostile regional powers as their greatest security threat and used a variety of diplomatic tools available to a relatively small but wealthy state: participation in international organizations, alliances, and economic statecraft. China's large commercial presence in the UAE makes it powerful state that has an interest in the Emirates. The chapter examines the historical development of Sino-Emirati relations, adopting the same framework of indifference, hostility, transition, interdependence, and Belt and Road Initiative. Tourism represents the largest volume of people-to-people interactions between China and the UAE, especially from the Chinese side. China's role in infrastructure projects in the UAE is significantly smaller than that it plays in Saudi Arabia. However, increased political and trade interactions have facilitated a larger role for Chinese firms in the UAE.
