NOURNEWS - The change in the approach of the Biden administration towards the West Asian region, especially in companion with the Saudis, has caused the Arab buyers of security to use expanding relations with Beijing as a lever against the possible departure of the United States out of security and defense agreements with them.
Changes in the US foreign policy in supporting Saudi Arabia:
After Trump's failure to regain the presidency of the United States and with the inauguration of the Biden’s democrat administration, bilateral relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia have undergone fundamental changes.
The scope of these changes is so intense that the first signs of it can be found in Riyadh's cooperation with OPEC's oil decisions to reduce oil supply, that caused the relations between the two countries to become even colder than before.
Since Washington has set its foreign policy priorities after the Biden administration came to power, focusing on confronting China, and on the other hand, it does not have much desire to spend more to maintain the Arab countries of the region as in the past, this concern among the Arab allies raised that the United States may not be as committed to them as it was in the past and in times of need will do with them what it did with Ashraf Ghani in Afghanistan.
Development of non-Dollar trade relations between China and Saudi Arabia:
According to published statistics, Saudi Arabia is China's largest trading partner in West Asia and the country's largest global supplier of crude oil.
Chinese customs statistics show that bilateral trade between Saudi Arabia and China has reached 87.3 billion Dollars, which has increased by 30% compared to before, and the largest share of this trade has been focused on oil products.
On the other hand, according to unofficial reports, Riyadh is negotiating with Beijing to price part of its oil sales in Yuan instead of US Dollars. Such a deal can simultaneously expand the global influence of China's currency and weaken the "oil dollar system".
Although news sources have confirmed that this has already happened, neither China nor the Saudis want to highlight it openly because both sides are too exposed to the pressure of the dollar in global markets, but surely there is no reason for them to continue their bilateral trade with a third party currency, especially when this third party is not trusted by any of them.
Global developments and the challenge of energy security of countries:
The war in Ukraine created a global energy crisis for the countries of the world, and in the last step, the imposition of sanctions and price caps on Russian oil, as the world's second largest exporter of crude oil, forced countries to compete more for sustainable sources of energy, that China also as the largest importer and consumer of energy is not excluded in this respect, so the main reason for the recent visit of the Chinese president to Riyadh can be seen as access to stable energy sources for Beijing and diversification of its sales market for Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia's security-defense needs:
What is certain is that Saudi Arabia is trying to distance itself from the complete dependence on the United States as much as possible, but due to the security and defense agreements and commitments, it is not able to make major changes in this area and it can only introduce new actors in the economic sectors. Regarding the international interactions, and for the above reason, the visit of the Chinese president cannot be assumed as a turning point in Beijing-Riyadh relations, that may cause strategic changes in China's relations with the region, or all Saudi relations with the United States and the region or even cause Iran to be out of China's attention or its importance to be ignored. Such analyzes have an emotional basis rather than a factual basis, and the certain extent of China's influence in the United States’ Arab backyard in the region should be of greater concern to Washington rather than Iran.
BY: Pooya Mirzaei
NOURNEWS