China is Saudi Arabia’s biggest trading partner, and the kingdom is China’s largest supplier of oil, so it’s normal for their leaders to meet and talk. But these are not normal times.
Faraan: Before President Xi Jinping has even set foot on Saudi soil, there’s already talk of “stepping on Washington’s toes” and of interfering in a “US sphere of influence”.
Indeed, during his visit to Riyadh only five months ago, United States President Joe Biden told a summit of Arab leaders that the US “will not walk away” from the Middle East to leave “a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran”. Biden has also tried to assure allies that the humiliating US withdrawal from Afghanistan last year will actually free more resources for its long stay in the Gulf and wider region.
But that has not deterred Xi or his hosts from organizing, in addition to a bilateral summit, separate summits with Arab states and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) during the Chinese president’s visit to Riyadh from December 7-9. To rub salt into the wound, they might even go the extra mile in making the summits appear more prestigious than those organized for Biden.
Why? Well, because US-Saudi relations, much like US-China ties, have been strained despite American attempts to maintain appearances of constructive engagement. Both Riyadh and Beijing have grown tired of Washington pressuring them to take its side against Russia in Ukraine and preaching the rights and wrongs of their ways in the Western-imposed “rules-based international system”. All of this seems to have brought them closer together.
A younger generation of Gulf leaders is showing more agency as they seek greater independence from Washington to diversify their partnerships in energy, technology and security. China’s a natural partner for them: it seeks reliable energy sources and markets for its goods and services, and prioritizes development and trade over democracy and human rights.
