With U.S.-Saudi ties at a nadir, China’s leader comes calling – By Nabih Bulos, Stephanie Yang, Tracy Wilkinson (Los Angeles Times) / Dec 8, 2022
It was no fleeting fist bump, but a five-second handshake. And rather than a grimace and stiff hello, there were smiles and warm words of greeting.
In optics, atmosphere and pageantry, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s meeting Thursday with Chinese President Xi Jinping — who arrived at the government palace in Riyadh flanked by a cavalry escort — was a universe away from the awkward exchange the prince had with President Biden just a few months ago. And it carried an unmistakable message: If Washington intends to pivot its foreign policy toward Asia, then so can Riyadh, but with the aim of turning Beijing into a friend rather than an adversary.
On only his third trip outside China in nearly three years, Xi landed in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for a trio of summits: the first, on Thursday, with his hosts, King Salman and his son the crown prince, who is the kingdom’s de facto ruler and newly appointed prime minister; the second a gathering of leaders of Persian Gulf nations, including Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain; and the third a pan-Arab confab that, according to Saudi state media, will bring together more than 30 heads of state and leaders of international organizations.
The focus of the summits is mostly economic, at least on the surface. China gets almost a fifth of its oil from Saudi Arabia and was the country’s largest trading partner. In the first half of 2022, Saudi Arabia was the biggest beneficiary of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the infrastructure-financing drive that is a linchpin of Beijing’s economic diplomacy. Riyadh received about $5.5 billion in Chinese investment, according to Fudan University in Shanghai.
