CNN
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China and Saudi Arabia expressed coordinated policies in a range of areas from security to oil in a joint statement on Friday, adding that they will support each other without interfering in each other’s internal affairs.
The deal comes during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the kingdom and amid strained ties between the United States and both countries over oil exploration, human rights abuses and other issues.
The nearly 4,000 words Joint Statement was released by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) and expressed its support for a range of wide-ranging global issues, including energy, security, Iran’s nuclear program, the Yemen crisis and Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Riyadh and Beijing stressed “the importance of stability in world oil markets,” noting that Saudi Arabia is a reliable crude oil exporter for its Chinese partner. They also expressed their determination to “develop cooperation and coordination in defense areas” and continue cooperation in “fighting terrorism and its financing.”
The statement reiterated that the countries “will continue to firmly support each other’s core interests, assist one another in safeguarding their sovereignty and territorial integrity, and make joint efforts to uphold the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of states and international rules.” defend law and fundamental principles of international relations.”
This would include not criticizing each other’s internal policies, presumably including on issues of human rights and domestic governance.
China also reiterated its “rejection of any action that would interfere in the internal affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” without adding further details.
Both countries have been heavily criticized for their human rights records, and Washington has previously cracked down on a range of human rights abuses and abuses committed by both China and Saudi Arabia.
In June, the The US banned all goods produced in western China Xinjiang Region where the State Department estimates up to two million Uyghurs and members of other ethnic groups have been detained in a shadowy network of detention centers since 2017, where they are reportedly subjected to “torture, cruel and inhumane treatment such as physical and sexual abuse, forced labour and death.” Chinese officials have consistently denied all allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
And in 2021, a US Secret Service report claimed that Saudi Crown Prince and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman (known as MBS) was directly involved in an operation that led to the assassination and dismemberment of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. MBS rejected the allegations.
Xi landed in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Wednesday for a multi-day visit to the oil-rich kingdom and was generously received by MBS and other Saudi dignitaries on Thursday. Saudi military jets escorted the Chinese President’s plane, and a purple carpet was rolled out and cannons fired upon his arrival. According to Saudi state TV, Xi invited Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud to visit China on Friday.
Xi’s visit includes his participation in a “Saudi-China summit,” a Sino-Arab and a Sino-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), SPA reported.
On Thursday, China and Saudi Arabia signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement that includes a number of agreements and memoranda of understanding, including on hydrogen energy, coordination between the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and direct investment. SPA reports without giving details.
Xi’s warm welcome was in stark contrast to the frigid atmosphere surrounding US President Joe Biden’s visit to the kingdom earlier this year.
Biden, who previously vowed to turn Saudi Arabia into a “pariah” after Khashoggi’s murder, said in October the US must “reconsider” its relationship with the kingdom after the Saudi-led oil cartel OPEC+ cuts oil production have.
Washington has also feuded with China over Taiwan, a democratically governed island of 24 million that Beijing claims as its territory though it has never controlled, and China’s expanded influence in the Middle East.
In response to Xi’s visit to Riyadh, Washington said it was “not surprised” and “considering the influence China is trying to expand around the world.”
Saudi Arabia has sought to diversify its alliances in recent years, particularly in the face of growing US criticism of the kingdom’s policies and what Gulf monarchies perceive as a dwindling US security presence in the Middle East.
“At a time when Saudi Arabia is trying to advance its economic diversification plans, China is a strong partner and much less critical compared to other western states.” wrote Amena BakrOPEC chief correspondent at Energy Intelligence, on Twitter.
Saudi author and analyst Ali Shihabi wrote that from the Saudi perspective, there has been frustration as “US politicians continue to define the kingdom” through the Khashoggi assassination, the Yemen war and human rights.
“Even the US, with all its abilities, spent two decades and trillions and lost countless lives trying to reform Iraq and Afghanistan, only to fail miserably,” he wrote.
Saudi Arabia “is pursuing a multipolar strategy of strong strategic ties,” Shihabi added.
It is coordinating with China, India, Russia on oil and with the UK and France as alternatives to the US on arms sales, he said, “while maintaining a hopefully solid but inevitably rocky relationship with its old friend the US.”
