China's 'key priorities': Open Hormuz, get oil flowing, avoid 'getting dragged into conflicts' Amid China’s balancing act in the Middle East, Nadia Massih is pleased to welcome Professor Astrid Nordin, Lau Chair of Chinese International Relations at King's College London. Professor Nordin describes a Chinese leadership attempting to navigate between two imperatives: safeguarding critical regional energy flows while resisting what Beijing sees as “U.S. violent interference.” China, she argues, wants influence without entanglement, stability without military overreach, and diplomatic leverage without assuming the burdens of American-style global policing.