Saudi Arabia Welcomes Growing Ties With China, Signs $5.6 Billion Electric Car Deal |
Saudi officials hailed closer relations with China (Al Jazeera) at an Arab-China business conference that began in Riyadh yesterday. Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said the country aims to collaborate, rather than compete, with Beijing, and is ignoring Western suspicions (Reuters) over the two countries’ growing ties. Participants have already signed $10 billion in investments, including a $5.6 billion deal for Chinese firm Human Horizons Technology to manufacture electric cars in Saudi Arabia as Riyadh looks to diversify its economy away from oil.
This is the tenth iteration of the Arab-China business conference. It comes after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Saudi Arabia last December and signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement. Saudi Arabia’s bilateral trade with China grew 30 percent over the past year, reaching a record high of $430 billion in 2022, Saudi officials said at the conference. |
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“Saudi Arabia aims to diversify economic partnerships, decrease dependency on traditional allies, such as the United States, and sees China as a crucial market for oil exports,” the Middle East Institute’s Mohammed Soliman tells Al-Monitor.
“China is not able to, and does not want to, get into the kind of engagement in the Middle East that the [United States] has,” Nanyang Technological University’s James M. Dorsey tells South China Morning Post. “It does not want or could not be a security guarantor. Economy is one pillar for the Saudis, security is another.”
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China Rejects U.S. Offer of Nuclear Arms Control Talks |
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said earlier this month that the United States was willing to engage in such talks without preconditions, though a spokesperson for Beijing’s embassy in Washington said that China was not ready to do so (Semafor), and has pledged to not be the first to use nuclear weapons. Russia also rejected U.S. efforts to resume direct talks.
This episode of the Why It Matters podcast discusses the seriousness of today’s nuclear threat.
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China Orders Departure of Last Remaining Indian Journalist |
The two countries have each restricted press access to the other in recent years amid deepening tensions between Beijing and New Delhi, Bloomberg reported. In 2020, there were fourteen Indian journalists working in China.
Pakistan: Militants attacked a security checkpoint (AP) near a former stronghold of the militant group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan located close to the country’s border with Afghanistan. The attack triggered a shootout that killed three militants and three members of the Pakistani police, Pakistan’s military said.
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Middle East and North Africa |
EU to Offer Tunisia Over $1 Billion in Aid to Assist Migration Enforcement |
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said yesterday that the European Union (EU) is considering sending Tunisia up to $900 million which would go to economic development (Politico) and another $100 million for border management. Tunisian President Kais Saied said ahead of a meeting with von der Leyen that he did not want Tunisia to become a border guard for other countries.
Iraq: Parliament approved a national budget over the weekend that increases federal control (The National) over oil revenue from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.
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Nigeria Puts States in Charge of Regulating Electricity Markets |
State governments have long advocated for decentralizing (Bloomberg) electricity regulation, which the country’s new president, Bola Tinubu, signed into law last Friday. Although Nigeria has sixteen thousand megawatts in installed electricity capacity, its grid dispatches less than five thousand megawatts each day due to poor transmission infrastructure and tariff structure.
Sudan: A cease-fire that lasted twenty-four hours between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces on Saturday allowed some humanitarian aid to be delivered (Reuters). Soon after, witnesses reported some of the most intense fighting since the conflict erupted eight weeks ago, with heavy gunfire heard in the capital, Khartoum.
For Foreign Affairs, Comfort Ero and Richard Atwood explore Sudan and the new age of conflict.
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Three-Time Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi Dies |
Silvio Berlusconi served three times (CNN) and paved the way for longtime political ally Giorgia Meloni to become the current prime minister. He was tried on charges from tax evasion to bribery, but only one conviction stuck.
Russia: Authorities in Moscow detained a U.S. citizen (WaPo) living in Russia on drug charges, the U.S. State Department said.
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Haitian Leaders Hold Talks on Political Impasse in Jamaica |
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Biden Hosts NATO Chief at White House |
U.S. President Joe Biden is hosting (AP) North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Washington today. They are expected to discuss who will succeed Stoltenberg after the end of his term in September, the war in Ukraine, and efforts to clear the path for Sweden’s accession to the security alliance.
This Backgrounder by CFR’s Jonathan Masters unpacks NATO.
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Council on Foreign Relations |
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