The Chinese head of state will stay in Saudi Arabia for a total of three days.
(Photo: VIA REUTERS)
Tel Aviv When two people argue, the third party may be happy: China’s President Xi Jinping arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for a state visit. There he wants to strengthen China’s influence in the Middle East – and gain a stronger position in view of the tensions with the USA.
More than 20 contracts are expected to be signed during the three-day visit, which is worth around $30 billion in trade and investment, according to Saudi media.
Xi gets a reception with all the honors of the Saudi state. This is a clear contrast to the “modest reception that US President Joe Biden received in July,” according to a commentary by the Arabic medium “Al Jazzera”. Chinese flags are hanging throughout the capital, Riyadh. Leading personalities from the Gulf region and numerous business representatives are also expected to visit Saudi Arabia.
Expectations are high: this visit is the “culmination of a profound strengthening” of Sino-Saudi relations in recent years, says Ali Shihabi, a Saudi commentator and advisory board member for the kingdom’s Neom project. The country wants to create a new mega-city in the desert in the coming decades.
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A spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry also predicted that the summit would be “a milestone in the history of Sino-Arab relations”, describing Xi’s trip to Saudi Arabia as a “strategic decision” to strengthen cooperation.
China ousted the US in record time
The intention behind the visit is clear: China wants to capitalize on the recent deterioration in US-Saudi Arabia relations. In October, Biden accused Riyadh of allying with Russia over oil production cuts. During his visit to Saudi Arabia in the summer, he failed to persuade the crown prince to increase oil production.
Politically, too, his visit was a flop, as Xi’s state visit now shows. The US would not say goodbye to the Middle East “leaving a vacuum that can be filled by China, Russia or Iran,” Biden had asserted. The fact that Xi is now traveling to Saudi Arabia just a few months later counteracts Biden’s announcement.
The US President’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia was rather cool.
(Photo: VIA REUTERS)
China never misses an opportunity to present itself as an ally of the Saudis at the expense of the US. After a meeting with his Saudi counterpart in October, Foreign Minister Wang Yi praised the kingdom’s “independent energy policy” and its efforts to stabilize the international energy market. China is the largest buyer of Saudi oil.
Wang also thanked Riyadh for its “long-term and resolute support” on issues such as Taiwan, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and human rights — all hot-button issues for the US and other Western nations. In Saudi Arabia, there are strict Islamic regulations in many areas of life, with draconian penalties for violations.
“China doesn’t ask questions and doesn’t lecture us”
Experts are amazed at China’s progress: It is remarkable how quickly China is pushing the United States out of areas dominated by US companies, said Princeton professor and Saudi Arabia expert Bernard Haykel before Xi’s visit.
They can be used, for example, in the construction of the gigantic Neom project when contracts begin next year. According to Riyadh, China is a more comfortable partner than the United States because Beijing doesn’t ask questions about human rights or wants to know why bloggers and members of the opposition are going to jail. “The Chinese do not lecture us and they are not disrespectful,” Western media quoted a Saudi official as saying.
However, China cannot oust the United States entirely, says Yoel Guzansky, a golf expert at the Tel Aviv Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). “Riyadh can only expect protection from the Iranian bomb from Washington.” A military summit is taking place during Xi’s visit. However, Guzansky does not see China in a position to stand in for the United States as a protective power against arch-enemy Iran.
Due to increased energy revenues and the war in Ukraine, which is weakening Europe, the Gulf countries are now acting more confidently than in previous years, says Guzansky: “Countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates now want to decide where to go and expect that the West and above all the USA are accommodating to them.” The Saudi crown prince sees the kingdom as a growing power that can withstand the pressure from the USA – and is increasingly turning to China.
More: What a US break with the Saudis could mean for the world