In 1959 a rift between China and Egypt became obvious, because Nasser chose to stand with the Soviet Union in Sino-Soviet disputes, and criticized China over its treatment of Tibet and Sino-Indian relations. As a result, Iraq was considered by China not only as its focus in the Gulf region, but also as its pillar in the Arab world. Although China supported Arab countries in the 1967 Middle East War, it “lacked material means to influence the war in the remote Middle East” because it was in the process of its own Cultural Revolution. Arab countries including Iraq gravitated towards the Soviet Union instead of China, and Sino-Iraqi relations turned cold