China's announcement of holding a summit with Arab countries has attracted attention.
According to a press release issued on the official website of the Chinese Consulate General in Dubai on Tuesday (November 22), Li Xuhang, the Chinese Consul General in Dubai, said at the space-themed event "Bright Stars, Dreaming of Space" held at the Museum of the Future in Dubai on the 21st , The first China-Arab States Summit will be held in Saudi Arabia in early December. This is a major event for improving the quality and growth of China-Arab (Arab) relations and a milestone in the history of China-Arab relations.
No other details of the summit were mentioned in the press release.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a press release on November 4 that Li Xuhang said in an exclusive interview with the UAE media that the summit will involve face-to-face exchanges between leaders of China and Arab countries.
There is a high possibility that Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the first China-Arab summit in person. If it takes place, it will be Xi Jinping's first visit to Saudi Arabia in the past seven years.
The news to pay attention to at the same time is: According to a Reuters report on November 17, the Biden administration ruled on the same day that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman enjoys immunity in the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Xi Jinping's visit to Saudi Arabia is very likely
This year, there have been many reports of Xi Jinping's visit to Saudi Arabia.
As early as August, according to the British "Guardian" report, Xi Jinping will visit Saudi Arabia next week. If the news is true, this will be Xi Jinping's first visit to other countries after the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in January 2020.
At that time, the outside world had high expectations.
The picture shows that on March 16, 2017, Xi Jinping met with the old King Muhammad at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
(Xinhua News Agency)
Although the news is not true, it is obviously not groundless.
Then, on October 27, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yiyi held the fourth meeting of the Political and Diplomatic Subcommittee of the China-Saudi High-Level Joint Committee.
"Today's talks are taking place at an important moment, just before the Chinese President's expected visit to the Kingdom," Faisal told Al Arabiya satellite television, adding that Saudi Arabia is also preparing for the summit between China and Arab states. Talk about "making final arrangements".
According to Chinese official media Xinhua News Agency, Wang Yi said at the meeting, "China attaches great importance to the development of China-Saudi Arabia relations, and puts Saudi Arabia at the top of China's overall diplomacy, especially the diplomacy in the Middle East."
In fact, Xi Jinping said during a phone call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed in April that China would give "priority consideration" to deepening relations with Saudi Arabia, and hoped to build "high-level" cooperation between the two countries in the fields of energy, economy, trade, and high technology.
The Guardian previously reported that Saudi Arabia is expected to receive Xi Jinping with a high standard, which can be equivalent to the first visit to the country by former US President Trump since he was sworn in.
Xi is expected to visit the capital Riyadh, the port city of Jeddah and a new future city that is being planned.
All these possibilities exist.
Special attention should be paid to the further deepening of the relationship between Saudi Arabia and China since Muhammad became a prince in 2016.
On issues such as Xinjiang and Hong Kong's national security law, Saudi Arabia has not spoken out, and China has not publicly commented on issues such as the severance of diplomatic relations with Qatar and the Khashoggi incident. There seems to be a tacit understanding.
What needs to be seen is that, according to data from the General Administration of Customs of China, Saudi Arabia surpassed Russia to become China's largest foreign supplier of crude oil in October.
China is already Saudi Arabia's largest trading partner and largest oil buyer. In recent years, China's geopolitical importance has become more prominent. For Saudi Arabia, it only focused on business in the past, but now it pays more attention to it from a strategic perspective.
In recent years, Beijing has also taken various measures, especially in the economic field, to strengthen its relations with Arab countries, especially the energy-rich Gulf countries.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed attended the Gulf Cooperation Council summit on July 16.
(AP)
Will Biden retreat again and again if he is nervous?
It is worth noting that if Xi Jinping visits Saudi Arabia, it will be at a time when the relationship between Saudi Arabia and its long-time ally, the United States, is tense.
The Biden administration recently ruled that Muhammad enjoys immunity in the case of Khashoggi's murder.
During the campaign, Biden blasted Saudi Arabia and Mohammed, calling Saudi Arabia a "pariah".
But after Biden came to power, he had to bow to reality.
In a court document filed late on November 17, the U.S. Department of Justice stated that because the Saudi crown prince is the "current head of government" in Saudi Arabia (note: because he was recently appointed prime minister), he was involved in Khashoggi's murder. "Not affected" in the lawsuit, which will protect the fiancée of the slain journalist Khashoggi and the civil rights organization "Democracy in the Arab World Now" founded by the civil rights organization.
The "Washington Post" reported that the Biden administration this time invoked the so-called "executive power" and "international law" to protect the Saudi crown prince from legal responsibility in the Khashoggi murder case.
This is the second time the Biden administration has bowed to Saudi Arabia.
Biden condescended to arrive in the western Saudi city of Jeddah on July 15 for a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia.
Biden once declared that he would never shake hands with Muhammad. Global media are paying attention to how Biden will meet with the Saudi crown prince.
As a result, Biden bumped fists instead of shaking hands when meeting Muhammad.
The American media sarcastically said that this is worse than shaking hands, because this casual way is only used when old friends meet.
Biden thought that he condescended to meet Muhammad as the president of the United States. Muhammad would be grateful to Dade, and Saudi Arabia would also agree to increase oil production to reduce inflation in the United States and suppress Russia.
But what Biden bowed to Saudi Arabia was humiliation.
Instead of increasing oil production as the US hoped, Saudi Arabia agreed with OPEC to increase production.
On October 5, OPEC+ decided to cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day starting in November, which caught the United States by surprise.
U.S. President Joe Biden arrives in the Red Sea city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on July 15.
The picture shows him fist bumping with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salam Palace.
(AP)
Then on October 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin talked about the expansion of the BRICS when attending the plenary meeting of the Valdai International Debate Club, saying that Russia supports Saudi Arabia's joining the BRICS.
In this regard, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference held on the 28th that as this year's BRICS chairman, China actively supports the BRICS expansion process.
The situation is stronger than others. Faced with the possibility of Saudi Arabia falling to China and Russia, Biden had to bow to Saudi Arabia again and try to hold Saudi Arabia back.
It is hard to say whether Biden bowed his head to Saudi Arabia again and can pull Saudi back, but he is already in trouble-this move angered some "human rights activists" and many US lawmakers.
According to Reuters, after the announcement of the Biden administration's decision, Khashoggi's Turkish fiancée Cengiz tweeted on the 17th that Khashoggi "died again."
The reason why Biden does not hesitate to tear off the veil of global democratic leaders is of course to point his sword at China and Russia.
Krieger, a professor at King's College London, analyzed: "In the competition with China and Russia, the United States realizes that Saudi Arabia has other options, so it believes that it must prevent Saudi Arabia from turning further east at all costs."
At the G20 summit in Argentina, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed sat next to Putin during a meeting.
(Reuters)
Whether Biden can win Muhammad's favor by bowing his head again is hard to say.
There is no doubt that Mohammad did not "grateful" Biden. A day after Mohammad was ruled to enjoy immunity in the Khashoggi killing, Mohammad's trip to Japan, which was scheduled to start on November 19, was cancelled. Bilateral business forums have also been cancelled.
Saudi Arabia notified Japan of the incident, but did not explain why.
Saudi Arabia is one of Japan's most important energy suppliers.
At a press conference on 8 November, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroichi Matsuno avoided answering questions about the visit, saying only that "nothing has been decided yet".
The date of the new visit and the reason for the cancellation of this visit were not communicated.
Obviously, Japan is embracing the thigh of the United States, and Muhammad also has warnings about this move.
To a certain extent, this move not only slaps Japan, but also understandably slaps the United States in the face.
After Biden came to power, he had to bow his head to reality. The United States was very nervous that Saudi Arabia was leaning towards China and Russia.
The Saudi government once claimed to use RMB instead of US dollars for oil settlements. Many analysts believe that this is just a bluff.
Recently, German media reported that once Saudi Arabia abandons the U.S. dollar and uses RMB to settle oil shipments to China, it will have a demonstration effect on other Gulf countries.
Countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Kuwait will follow Saudi Arabia's lead.
Once Saudi Arabia uses RMB to settle oil, the petrodollar will be shaken.
Therefore, the United States will try every means to hold Saudi Arabia.
Once Saudi Arabia falls to China and Russia, it means that the United States is likely to lose control of global oil. In fact, this trend is already emerging.
At present, it seems that Muhammad is not satisfied with Biden bowing his head again. It is hard to say whether Biden will bow his head to Saudi Arabia again.
The United States has enough resources to hold Saudi Arabia back, but the price it will pay will be higher and higher.
In addition, even if Saudi Arabia does not join the BRICS organization and does not use RMB to settle oil, it will maintain good relations with China and Russia.
As a regional power, Saudi Arabia is taking advantage of the decline of the United States to find its own international space.
Only by wandering between the United States and the West and China and Russia can Saudi Arabia obtain the greatest national interests.
In addition, in recent years, Beijing has adopted various methods to strengthen its relations with Arab countries, especially the energy-rich Gulf countries.
Indeed, as stated by the Chinese consulate, the relationship between Arab countries and China has “entered a stage of rapid development.” In January this year, China received a number of visiting foreign ministers from the Gulf countries. China is the world’s largest importer of crude oil.
Qatar also announced a 27-year liquefied natural gas supply deal with China, which Qatar said was the "longest contract period" it has ever signed amid the global energy crisis sparked by the Ukraine war.
The Gulf emirate said it had not yet reached a similar deal with the EU.
In 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to more than double China's trade with Gulf countries by 2023.
These have to make the United States nervous.
The summit between China and Arab countries will be held in December. Xi Jinping may visit Saudi Khashoggi for the first time in 7 years and regional security. US media claim that Xi Jinping plans to visit Saudi Arabia in early December. Beijing says there is no relevant information. What important signal does "Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia" send?