{"id":6044,"date":"2023-04-02T19:40:06","date_gmt":"2023-04-02T19:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/?p=6044"},"modified":"2023-04-02T19:40:40","modified_gmt":"2023-04-02T19:40:40","slug":"china-and-saudi-arabia-are-getting-closer-should-the-us-be-worried","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/en\/china-and-saudi-arabia-are-getting-closer-should-the-us-be-worried\/","title":{"rendered":"China and Saudi Arabia are getting closer. Should the US be worried?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nadeen Ebrahim

(Abu Dhabi, UAE(CNN\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saudi Arabia this week moved closer <\/a>to joining a China-led Asian security and economic bloc, having been granted the status of a dialogue partner in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as it expands its global outreach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A club of mostly ex-Soviet states<\/a>, the SCO includes Russia and China, as well as other major economic players such as India and Pakistan. The kingdom could eventually be granted full membership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s growing role in the Middle East of late has alarmed Washington<\/a>. This month alone, Beijing mediated a landmark agreement<\/a> between archfoes Iran and Saudi Arabia that could help significantly ease Middle East tensions. Saudi Arabia also significantly strengthened its energy ties with China by announcing on Monday a $3.6 billion deal to buy 10% of China\u2019s Rongsheng Petrochemical, which would see it supply 480,000 barrels per day of crude oil to the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysts say that as the US\u2019 rivalry with China and Russia<\/a> intensifies in an increasingly polarized world, Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern nations are choosing to diversify their global partnerships. But while states like Saudi Arabia may be getting closer to China, Beijing is far from becoming a US rival in the region, they say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe traditional monogamous relationship with the US is now over,\u201d said Ali Shihabi, a Saudi analyst and writer. \u201cAnd we have gone into a more open relationship; strong with the US but equally strong with China, India, (the) UK, France and others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That polarization is the reason different parties \u201cbring different forms of influence to the table,\u201d he told CNN. \u201cThe smart thing for the kingdom is to put in place a portfolio of strategic relations that all contribute to its security and prosperity in different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The kingdom\u2019s ambassador to the United States, Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud<\/a>, told CNN\u2019s Becky Anderson in October that a review of the US-Saudi relationship was \u201ca positive thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis kingdom is not the kingdom it was five years ago, it\u2019s not the kingdom it was 10 years ago. So, every piece of analysis that existed is no longer relevant,\u201d she said, stressing nonetheless that the alliance with the US was wide-ranging and robust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to CNN\u2019s Becky Anderson on Thursday, Vali Nasr<\/a>, professor of Middle East studies and international affairs at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), said the US needs to rethink its Middle East policy \u201cbecause it has been based on a very different conception of Saudi Arabia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysts, however, say that the Middle East is unlikely to become an arena for US-Chinese rivalry, given Beijing\u2019s economy-oriented focus and its aversion to playing regional politics. The Saudi-China relationship<\/a> is therefore unlikely to become a full-blown alliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saudi Arabia is China\u2019s biggest supplier of crude, and China is the biggest destination of Saudi oil exports. The kingdom\u2019s economy is nonetheless tied to the US as its currency is pegged to the dollar and the sale of its oil is conducted in that currency. Saudi Arabia\u2019s defense infrastructure is also heavily reliant on American equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonathan Fulton, senior non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council, says that China has a strict non-alliance policy and is unlikely to want to get bogged down in Middle Eastern conflicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAn ally is typically someone you\u2019re aligned with against a third country or a bloc of third countries\u2026 and China doesn\u2019t want to do that,\u201d he told CNN. \u201cThey don\u2019t want to get caught up in other countries\u2019 issues, especially in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike Western states, China also offers Saudi Arabia its policy of non-interference in each other\u2019s domestic affairs, an issue that was clearly spelled out<\/a> when Chinese President Xi Jinping made a landmark visit to Riyadh last year<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fulton said that the two are unlikely to interfere in each other\u2019s affairs mainly because \u201cneither side matters that much to the other,\u201d and that each state\u2019s core interests are beyond the scope of the other\u2019s priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That may work well for Saudi Arabia, which has been on the receiving end of a barrage of criticism from the Biden administration and Congress for its human rights record. For China, it means that Saudi Arabia will continue its silence on matters such as its treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in northwestern region of Xinjiang, which the US in 2021 labelled a \u201cgenocide.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the surprise Saudi-Iran agreement was announced this month, the Biden administration appeared to downplay China\u2019s role. White House Spokesman John Kirby said internal and external pressure, including effective Saudi deterrence against attacks from Iran or its proxies, ultimately brought Iran to the table, Reuters reported<\/a>. But he welcomed it \u201cregardless of what the impetus was, or who sat down at the table.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fulton said China\u2019s mediation isn\u2019t necessarily a change in its Middle East policy. It was a \u201cregional approach to a regional problem,\u201d he said, which regional actors saw the US unable to resolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The digest<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

UAE leader names his son as Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The leader of the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday named his eldest son<\/a> as crown prince of Abu Dhabi and his likely successor as president. President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ), who is also ruler of Abu Dhabi, named Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed as crown prince of the emirate, state-run WAM news agency reported. MBZ also appointed his brother Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed as vice-president of the UAE, a position he will share with the ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister of the UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (MBR), 73, who is also his father-in-law. The position was previously held solely by the ruler of Dubai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n