China’s influence in the Middle East has never been more evident. In December, while his country was still experiencing COVID-19 lockdowns, Xi flew to Riyadh for regional summits with leaders from the oil-rich Gulf Arab nations.
Three months later, Beijing surprised the world by brokering a peace initiative between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
This was followed by a series of rapprochements in the conflict-torn region, including Iran’s resumption of formal diplomatic relations with Morocco and Egypt. The UAE and Qatar, as well as Turkey and Egypt, also agreed to resume diplomatic ties.
With no sign that tensions with the West will abate soon, Beijing is likely to turn its eye to Africa, the Middle East and Latin America – regions where China can “exert soft power through Chinese language education”, according to Gil.
However, it remained to be seen if Mandarin could put down deeper roots in the Middle East, he said.
Ma said there was a bright future for teaching Mandarin in Saudi Arabia, which has a population of 37 million and holds the world’s second-largest oil reserves. The kingdom also launched its first Confucius Institute, at Prince Sultan University, in June.
The long-standing US ally is looking to bolster its ties with China, beyond the oil trade to technology, infrastructure and even arms, in an economic diversification blueprint backed by bin Salman.
Last month, Saudi Arabia, together with Iran and the UAE, were among six countries invited to join Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in an expansion of the Brics association of leading emerging economies.
But there are serious shortages of Chinese language teachers in the Middle East, according to Ma, who said local governments needed to invest more in hiring qualified instructors.
He also noted that Mandarin was one of the most difficult languages to master and China was still regarded as a remote country with a very different cultural background by many people in the Middle East.
In the UAE, where most people are expatriates, Chinese language courses are taught from kindergarten to high school, with pupils required to take two lessons every week.
Teacher shortages and budget constraints mean that not every school can offer the language programmes, according to several Chinese language teachers working in the UAE.
The teachers said they were working 26 to 28 class hours every week because of the high demand for Chinese language lessons. The maximum number of weekly hours permitted is 30.
“This is really heavy, to be honest, because we are short of hands, and I don’t even have time to go to the restroom during the break,” one of several teachers interviewed by the Post said.
Some of the teachers in the UAE were sent there under a programme supported by Confucius Institute Headquarters, known as Hanban, which changed its name in 2020 to the Centre for Language Education and Cooperation, after a global backlash.
The requirements for Mandarin teachers are high – most need to have spent at least three years in Chinese education overseas, preferably in Western countries.
In addition to a master’s or higher degree, some candidates are also required to provide a Mandarin Standard Certificate and English-language test results, according to several teachers.
Aria Meng, a 27-year-old kindergarten teacher in Abu Dhabi, said the standard required was getting higher, despite the shortage of Chinese language teachers.
“There were nearly 10,000 applications to the Ministry of Education last year but only 100 to 200 applicants [made] the last round,” she said.
“Nearly 99 per cent of the teachers are Chinese. Some are from Singapore, but they are all of Chinese ancestry. I have
Aria Meng, a 27-year-old kindergarten teacher in Abu Dhabi, said the standard required was getting higher, despite the shortage of Chinese language teachers.
“There were nearly 10,000 applications to the Ministry of Education last year but only 100 to 200 applicants [made] the last round,” she said.
“Nearly 99 per cent of the teachers are Chinese. Some are from Singapore, but they are all of Chinese ancestry. I have only seen one Arab teacher. She is Tunisian, but her Chinese is as good as a native.”
Michael Li, who teaches Mandarin at a public school in Dubai – the UAE’s most populous city – said not many local pupils were really interested in learning the language.
“They attend the courses because it is compulsory. Most students who are interested in Chinese are non-local students – especially from Syria, Egypt, Iraq, and Palestine – because for these students, learning Chinese can literally change their fate,” he said.
Some of the teachers also said young people in the Gulf states were more interested in going to the West to further their studies rather than China, making English more of a priority for them.
Megan Wei, 29, who teaches Mandarin in Abu Dhabi, said she was often asked, “Why can’t we just learn English as everyone can speak English, even in China?”
