I wouldn't rush to blame the Chinese for this yet. It could also just be a coincidence.
Perpetrating a massive cyberattack during APEC before meeting Albanese and Biden is just horrible optics and destroys the ongoing normalization efforts
It's too soon to attribute cause
You want your oil payments processed (done in UAE) [0], your international shipping payments processed (done in UAE) [1], and your OBOR investments across Africa, Central Asia, and South Asia untouched (the UAE is the largest FDI player in all those countries and China often co-invests with the UAE due to a limited presence in those regions) [2], don't mess with us.
By the way, it would be a might shame if all 400,000 Overseas Chinese in the UAE from prostitues in Marina to oligarchs in the Palm Jumeirah were deported due to an act of cyberwar and $107 Billion in UAE-China trade ground to a halt.
Saudi Arabia did a similar thing to Pakistan from 2017-2020 in relation for Imran Khan's support of Qatar. 40,000 Pakistanis were deported near overnight, forced a $1 Billion loan repayment, began investing in Indian Kashmir, and supported the Pakistani Army's de facto coup against Khan in 2022 [3].
Now the Saudi-Pakistan relationship is a different power differential than UAE-China, but China is more dependent on the UAE than the UAE is on China, especially as they are one of the primary players in the Indian, Indonesian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Egyptian, Iranian, Russian, and Vietnamese economies, and can make China's life hell in Central+South Asia, Middle East, and Africa.
[0] - https://new.thecradle.co/articles/the-first-china-uae-gas-de...
[1] - https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/85676
[2] - https://www.china-briefing.com/news/china-united-arab-emirat...
[3] - https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/imran-khan-fall-could-pus...
I didn't realize that. There have been a lot of idiots in HN who have written comments like your unironically, so I've become much more combative to misinformation
DP World owns most of the major ports globally. It's absolutely massive and a critical part of the UAE's larger geopolitical strategy.
They operate the Antwerp Port, Le Harve Port, Qingdao Port, Hong Kong Port, Tianjin Port, Mudra Port, just about every port in Australia, Saigon Port, Karachi Port, Vancouver Port, Manila Port, Busan Port, Laem Chabang Port, Manila Port, etc.
They are the backbone of global logistical infrastructure.
DP is owned by Dubai's royal family (Makhtoom). If AD Ports properties were also hit (owned by the Abu Dhabi royal family - the Nayhan's) it's game over. Whichever country did this would be de facto blocked from UAE, and the UAE is critical for Chinese, Russian, and Indian FDI.