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Xi Jinping in Saudi Arabia: China, a card to play "during periods of tension between Riyadh and Washington"
Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, talks with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan during the G20 summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. AP - Bay Ismoyo
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Saudi Arabia on December 7, the leader of the world's largest oil-importing country visiting the largest exporting country, and this in a context of energy crisis.
The Chinese president's three-day visit to the region may make the United States, a historic ally of the Saudi kingdom, cringe.
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The Washington-Riyadh relationship has experienced cold snaps recently and the Gulf monarchies want to diversify their relations, as explained by Camille Lons, researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), at the microphone of
Nicolas Falez
, of the service RFI International.
“
It's a very political summit...especially for Saudi Arabia in the context of the somewhat difficult relations with the United States recently.
It is a way of displaying this relationship with Beijing which is flourishing.
This is something that we have already seen in previous years, for example the fact that Mohammed bin Salman's Asian tour took place shortly after the
Jamal Khashoggi
affair [journalist who died at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul ]
and therefore the tensions that we had seen between Saudi Arabia and their ally in Washington
”.
After the murder of the journalist in October, the Saudi crown prince had made a
tour of Asia which had notably taken him to China.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with Chinese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Li Huaxin during a visit to the Great Wall of China, February 21, 2019. Reuters
"
The relationship with China is coming back to the fore in times of tension in relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States,
continues Camille Lons, according to whom these exchanges are part of "
a longer trend term that we see, where the Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia in particular, but other countries in the region as well, are trying to diversify their diplomatic relations with other partners.
And China is of course one of the key partners in this diversification.
»
► To read also: Xi Jinping in Saudi Arabia: oil, "new silk roads" and strategic cooperation on the menu of the visit
RFI: It will be a question of hydrocarbons and contracts, but also of defense and security. What place for China in this area, against the background of the old military and strategic alliance between Washington and the Gulf countries?
“
There has been the emergence of the beginnings of cooperation on military and security issues between China and countries in the region.
This is still a taboo, because these are countries, particularly in the Gulf, which are completely dependent on the American shield, especially to deal with Iran, and even more
so at the moment,
with a real fear of escalation in the region.
»
Drones bought from China
The Gulf countries want to diversify their strategic partners, particularly in security issues,
“at a time when they doubt Washington's willingness to support them securely over the long term as they have done so far.
We see the beginnings of cooperation, in particular the Gulf countries have
bought drones from China
, which the United States and Europeans refuse them.
We also have cooperation in the local development of drones with the manufacture of drones in Saudi Arabia or the Emirates.
So, we indeed see an emergence on the security side, but which remains minimal compared to the importance of the security relationship with the United States.
»
► To read also
:
Saudi ballistic missiles manufactured with the help of China
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