China quietly prepared for Iran war a year early

The current energy shock may feel sudden, but for China, it is anything but unexpected. Long before tensions escalated in the Middle East, Beijing had already begun reworking its energy strategy to withstand exactly this kind of disruption. According to a report by The New York Times, China steadily built up oil stockpiles, expanded renewable energy at scale, and pushed technological shifts to cut reliance on imported raw materials. Together, these moves have begun to reshape its vulnerability to global supply shocks. At the centre of this strategy was a clear policy shift driven by the ruling Communist Party, which…