China Cements its Position in the Middle East

by Judith Bergman, GATESTONE  •  January 10, 2023

The Chinese and the Saudi flags fly in Riyadh, on December 7, 2022, ahead of Xi’s visit to the Saudi capital. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine/AFP via Getty Images)

• Saudi Arabia is not only one of China’s most important energy suppliers, but the kingdom is also an important link in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) — a gigantic global development project… to enhance China’s global influence from East Asia to Europe by making countries worldwide increasingly dependent on China. Under the BRI, China has signed cooperation agreements with 20 Arab countries.
• China is also Saudi Arabia’s largest trading partner — an arrangement that extends to military cooperation….
• Biden took a longstanding ally, Saudi Arabia, and, by repeating that he would make the kingdom “a pariah nation,” created an adversary. “For an American president to be silent on the issue of human rights is inconsistent with who we are and who I am,” Biden said. The same concern for human rights has not seemed to bother him, however, when it comes to China or Iran, whose record on human rights is at least as bad as Saudi Arabia’s, if not worse.
• China jumped in to fill the vacuum.
• Xi Jinping has made no secret of his wishes to “replace America as the global superpower” economically, militarily, diplomatically and technologically by 2049. The United States might be “well poised to lead,” but is it leading?

When Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Saudi Arabia on December 7 for his first visit since 2016, he was welcomed with a lavish reception. The contrast to the low-key reception of US President Joe Biden last July could hardly have been greater.<
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When Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Saudi Arabia on December 7 for his first visit since 2016, he was welcomed with a lavish reception. Fighter jets escorted his plane into Saudi airspace, a purple carpet was rolled out, and cannons were fired. Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), welcomed Xi the next day with a ceremony, during which Xi’s car was escorted by members of the Saudi Royal Guard on horseback and carrying the flags of both countries, followed by a welcoming banquet.

The contrast to the low-key reception of US President Joe Biden last July could hardly have been greater. Biden took a longstanding ally, Saudi Arabia, and, by repeating that he would make the kingdom a “pariah nation,” created an adversary.

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