President of China on his way to Riyadh; What goals will “Shi” pursue in Saudi Arabia?
According to IRNA from the Politico news website, one month after Joe Biden’s tense trip to Jeddah, Chinese President Xi Jinping will soon, after more than two years of corona virus quarantine, on his first foreign trip to meet with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. Mohammad Bin Salman will go to this country.
Politico wrote in its analytical report:
Xi’s visit, which is likely to emphasize the deepening of Saudi-Chinese relations, has not yet been officially confirmed; But an anonymous Saudi source said it could be done in less than a week.
Unlike Biden’s high-profile visit, which began with an awkward fist bump to Bin Salman (Biden bumped his fist into Bin Salman’s fist instead of shaking his hand), Xi is expected to be greeted with full diplomatic formality by the Saudis.
The selection of Saudi Arabia as the first foreign destination of the Chinese President since January 2020 has important meanings for political experts. And it gives news of China’s warm relations with one of the world’s biggest key energy suppliers.
According to IRNA’s morning report, although none of the Chinese and Saudi sources have yet officially announced news about this trip, the recent statements of the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry regarding the relations between Beijing and Riyadh may be taken as his implicit reference to Xi’s visit to Mathias in the days He knew the future.
The visit will not only confirm China’s growing global influence, but also allow the young Saudi crown prince to signal to the Biden administration that the United States has a serious contender as Riyadh’s chosen patron of the superpower.
Part of China’s strategy in the region is to show that it is a more reliable and better partner for the countries of the Middle East than the United States. The Chinese are trying to convey this message in ways that do not directly antagonize the United States.
At the same time that China closed its borders at the beginning of the pandemic, Xi stopped all foreign travel as part of his country’s strategy to fight the corona virus. Xi’s brief trip to Hong Kong in June was the first time he left the Chinese mainland in two years.
Saudi Arabia and China’s long-standing political and economic ties make Riyadh an attractive destination for Xi Jinping to resume face-to-face international diplomatic efforts. For his first trip abroad, Xi wants to go to a country where he will be well received, said Dawn Murphy, associate professor of national security strategy at the National War College.
Saudi Arabia’s invitation to Xi for a visit was first reported by the Wall Street Journal in May, before Biden’s visit. But its timing gives Riyadh and Beijing the opportunity to compare Xi and Bin Salman’s statements of warm bilateral interaction with Joe Biden’s tense and controversial meeting and have the upper hand.
After his campaign rhetoric in 2016, Biden accused the Saudis of “killing children” in Yemen and promised to “reject” the Saudi government for the brutal murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Due to his double behavior, he was severely criticized and angered by the American public opinion.
China and Saudi Arabia signed a “strategic partnership” agreement in 2016, which is related to “long-term sustainable energy cooperation”. As a result of this agreement, the value of bilateral trade between the two countries reached 65.2 billion dollars in 2020.
Beijing in 2021 from Saudi Arabia to become a “reasonable and observer” member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a China-initiated regional security and development group whose members include Kazakhstan, India, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan. are invited.
A few weeks after Biden’s failed trip to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company, Aramco, signed a memorandum of understanding with China’s state-owned Sinopec to cooperate in areas including “carbon extraction and hydrogen processes.”
Xi is also visiting Riyadh at a time when the Saudis are less dependent on Beijing as a supplier of their kingdom’s military hardware and technology. China has a long history of supplying weapons to Riyadh. In contrast, earlier this month, the Biden administration announced a $3.05 billion arms package for Riyadh, including the possible sale of Patriot missile batteries.
In this context, it can be said that the intensification of the competition between the United States and China for geopolitical influence in the Middle East and beyond allows Saudi Arabia to use relations with both countries for the benefit of Riyadh, without alienating the parties.
Politico wrote in the final part of this analytical report: But the cornerstone of US-Saudi relations – antipathy towards Iran and concern about its potential threat to Riyadh – will prevent China from replacing the US as the kingdom’s chosen ally any time soon. .
This American media also wrote that unlike the way America and Saudi Arabia view Iran, China has no concerns about Iran, and this difference in positions also shows that China cannot be a partner for Saudi Arabia in the true sense of the word.