By Shannon Tiezzi
By keeping a tight focus on bilateral ties, China hoped to avoid upsetting Iran during Xi’s first trip to Saudi Arabia.
Chinese President wrapped up his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday morning, making him the first president to visit the Gulf state since 2009.
Xi’s first visit to the Middle East, which began with his arrival in Riyadh on Tuesday, comes amid serious tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran. After Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shiite cleric earlier this month, protesters in Iran stormed the Saudi embassy. Riyadh then severed diplomatic relations with Tehran, and many of Saudi Arabia’s allies followed suit. China, which enjoys good relations with both of the Middle Eastern rivals, has had to walk something of a tightrope to keep from alienating either side.
Yet in a joint statement issued on Wednesday, China and Saudi Arabia both “stressed support for the legitimate regime of Yemen.” Saudi Arabia has been backing Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi against a revolution waged by Houthi rebels, who (as Shiites) are aligned with Iran. Xi’s first planned trip to the Middle East was cancelled over the Yemen issue – visiting Saudi Arabia (and not Iran) soon after Riyadh began air strikes in Yemen would have sent the wrong message.
However, China can get away with a reference to support for the “legitimate regime” of Yemen now for a couple of reasons. First, defaulting to support for an existing government against a rebellion is simply China’s modus operandi, based on its strong preference for stability as well as its own fear of domestic opposition. Second, and most crucially, China did not express support for Saudi Arabia’s use of force against the rebels; in fact, the joint statement went on to say that all sides in Yemen should avoid making decisions that increase chaos and further fracture the state.
Read the full story at The Diplomat