Opinion | China can and should bring out Biden's best

By Augustus K. Yeung

INTRODUCTION

This is a wonderfully rare instance of Chinese diplomacy at its best. It is not about out-witting an opponent and reaping benefits; rather, it is a win-win situation for all parties involved.

For example, Riyadh signed a Chinese-facilitated deal aimed at restoring diplomatic ties with its arch-nemesis Iran and then announced a massive contract to buy commercial planes from U.S. manufacturer Boeing.

The two announcements spurred speculation that the Saudis were laying their marker as a dominant economic and geopolitical force with the flexibility to accommodate both Beijing and Washington together.

They also cast China in an unfamiliar leading role in the Middle Eastern politics. And they raised questions about whether the U.S.-Saudi relationship – frosty for much of the first two years of Joe President's term – has reached a détente.

But as the Biden administration takes stock of the moment, officials are pushing back against the notion that the developments amount to a shift in the dynamics of the U.S.-China competition in the Middle East.

Chinese involvement in facilitating a resumption of Iran-Saudi diplomatic ties and the major Boeing contract – one the White House said it advocated for – have added a new twist to Biden's rollercoaster relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

As a candidate for the White House, Biden vowed that Saudi rulers would pay a "price" under his watch for the 2018 killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of the kingdom's leadership.

More recently, after OPEC+ oil cartel announced in October it was cutting production, Biden promised "consequences" for a move that the administration said was helping Russia.

Now, Washington and Riyadh seem intent on moving forward, and China is at least dabbling in a more assertive Middle East diplomacy.

The good news is that Saudi officials kept the U.S. up to date on the status of talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia on restarting diplomatic relations since they began nearly two years ago, according to the White House. Significant progress was made during several rounds of earlier talks hosted by Iraq and Oman, well before the deal was announced in China last week during the country's National People's Congress.

China's Peace Promotion Efforts Have Won Rare Praise from Jake Sullivan

The Iran-Saudi relationship has been historically fraught and shadowed by a sectarian divide and fierce competition in the region. Diplomatic relations were severed in 2016 after Saudi Arabia executed prominent Shite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Protesters in Tehran stormed the Saudi Embassy and Iran supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, vowed "divine revenge" for al-Nimr's execution.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan earlier this week said China was "rowing in the same direction" with its work at quelling tensions between the Gulf Arab nations that have been fighting proxy wars in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq for years.

"This is something that we think is positive insofar as it promotes what the United States has been promoting in the region, which is de-escalation, a reduction in tensions," Sullivan said.

Iran-allied Houthis seized Yemen's capital, Sanaa, in 2014 and forced the internationally recognized government into exiled in Saudi Arabia. A Saudi-led coalition armed with U.S. weaponry and intelligence entered the war on the side of Yemen's exiled government in 2015.

Years of inconclusive fighting created a humanitarian disaster and pushed the Arab world's poorest nation to the brink of famine. Overall, the war has killed more than 150,000 people, including over 14,500 civilians.

A six-month cease-fire, the longest of the Yemen conflict, expired in October, but finding a permanent peace is among Biden's highest priorities in the Middle East.

Beijing swooped in on the Iran-Saudi talks, according to one of six senior administrator officials who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private White House deliberations. The Iran-Saudi announcement coincided with Chinese leader Xi Jinping being awarded a third five-year term as the nation's president.

President Xi Called for China to Play Yet a Bigger Role in Managing Global Disputes…

The official added that if China can play a "reinforcing role" in ending hostilities in Yemen Biden's administration would view that as a good thing.

Xi this week called for China to play a bigger role in managing global affairs after Beijing scored a diplomatic coup with the Iran-Saudi agreement.

"It has injected a positive element into the peace, stability, solidarity and cooperation landscape of the region." China's Deputy U.N. Ambassador Geng Shuang told the U.N. Security Council yesterday. "We hope it can also create conducive conditions for improving the situation in Yemen."

China – a major customer of both Iran and Saudi oil – has been steadily increasing its regional political influence. Xi travelled to Riyadh in December and received Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Beijing last month.

But Miles Yu, director of the China Center at the Hudson Institute, cautioned that Xi's call to be a more active player on the international stage would require Beijing to "dramatically change" its approach.

"Not every move China takes to engage more deeply with the Middle East necessarily harms the United States," noted Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat. (Source: MDT/AP)

CONCLUSION

China as a peace-loving nation and an honest broker of peace has finally won rare praises from top U.S. officials, especially White House trusted aide Jake Sullivan, the National Security Chief. Even Senator Murphy is now beginning to caste China's role in the Middle East in positive light, although it still takes time to win over America's absolute trust.

Nevertheless, this could be a significant diplomatic breakthrough, especially when Riyadh is keeping Washington fully posted about its negotiations with Tehran. The situation can be interpreted as Beijing coming to Biden's rescue in the Middle East (where the Americans have made a mess), without military intervention.

This unexpected and unprecedented Chinese peace overture should give Biden's bid for 2024 presidency a shot in the arm.

Biden's archrival, "anti-China" Trump can only salivate sadly.

The author is a freelance writer; formerly Adjunct Lecturer, taught MBA Philosophy of Management, and International Strategy, and online columnist of 3-D Corner (HKU SPACE), University of Hong Kong.

 

The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.

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