New era of China-Saudi ties riles Iran
by M.K. Bhadrakumar
December 16, 2022
The pomp and ceremony of the recent visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Saudi Arabia have drawn comparison with the banality and frigid atmosphere surrounding US President Joe Biden’s trip to the kingdom in July. However, the main difference is that the Saudis organized three separate regional summits for Xi — aside from the bilateral summit, a second summit with 21 Arab leaders and a third with seven rulers of GCC countries.
The “three-in-one” conveyed a big signal that Saudi Arabia stands at the heart of China’s Arab world diplomacy. It is in sharp contrast with the transactional relationship that the historic US-Saudi alliance has been reduced to.
Continue reading at peoplesdispatch.org
Xi of Arabia and the petroyuan drive
By Pepe Escobar
December 16 2022
It would be so tempting to qualify Chinese President Xi Jinping landing in Riyadh a week ago, welcomed with royal pomp and circumstance, as Xi of Arabia proclaiming the dawn of the petroyuan era.
But it’s more complicated than that. As much as the seismic shift implied by the petroyuan move applies, Chinese diplomacy is way too sophisticated to engage in direct confrontation, especially with a wounded, ferocious Empire. So there’s way more going here than meets the (Eurasian) eye.
Xi of Arabia’s announcement was a prodigy of finesse: it was packaged as the internationalization of the yuan. From now on, Xi said, China will use the yuan for oil trade, through the Shanghai Petroleum and National Gas Exchange, and invited the Persian Gulf monarchies to get on board. Nearly 80 percent of trade in the global oil market continues to be priced in US dollars.
Continue reading at thecradle.co
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