Analysts say the contrast shows how much more Saudi Arabia sees itself as having more in common with China than with the United States.
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Xi Jinping’s big front in Saudi Arabia that saw his Air China Boeing 747 flanked by jets of green-and-white smoke to constitute the Gulf country’s flag contrasted with the lukewarm welcome Joe Biden won on his stopover in the country a few months earlier.
Footage broadcast on Saudi state television showed Mr. Xi’s bombastic reception in the Gulf country on Wednesday, also marked by a series of other presentations of national symbolism and solidarity.
In another series of planes sprayed in red and yellow in the colors of the Chinese national flag, an army parade made with cannon fire and dozens of Saudi officials, including Riyadh Governor Prince Faisal bin Bandar, welcomed the Chinese leader to the tarmac for his three-day visit.
Members of the Saudi Royal Guard on Arabian horses escorted Xi’s car to the royal palace in Riyadh, where the country’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, welcomed him with a smile and a handshake.
The symbolic display of partnership showed the Gulf nation’s growing closeness to Beijing and stood in stark contrast to the way Biden welcomed it.
U. S. President The U. S. quietly won upon arrival in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah through a regional governor and Biden met with the Saudi crown prince with a questionable blow, a move that sparked strong reactions in Bien’s home country. Biden.
The BBC’s Middle East business correspondent Sameer Hashmi said Sameer Hashmi’s questionable coup. Biden had given the impression of “cold” to the “firm handshake” exchanged between the crown prince and M. Xi.
“Interesting times in the Middle East, as [the] U. S. “The U. S. seeks to retain its influence while China seeks to build its own,” said Kabir Taneja, a fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.
This may simply reflect the advertising and power interests of either nation. Ian Bremmer, a political scientist and president of political threat consultancy Eurasia Group, said China and Saudi Arabia are “the last men standing” in terms of demand for and supply of fossil fuels. respectively.
“It aligns those countries much more than with the United States in the medium and long term,” he said, adding that much more investment can be expected between the two countries from the high-level visit.
During the key diplomatic activity of the year, Mr. Xi plans to meet with King Salman, 86, and the crown prince, 37.
Xi arrives at the invitation of the Saudi king, said Zongyuan Zoe Liu, a senior fellow for foreign economy and foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank.
The king only suggested to the Chinese leader that he attend a Sino-Saudi summit, and two others.
“He also invited him to attend another larger summit, one of which is the Arab-China summit and the other is the GCC summit. And China has already shown that Xi Jinping will assist the other,” Ms. Zongyuan said. Bloomberg.
He noted that “when Biden visited the region earlier this year, he didn’t get the same kind of deal. “
“We can safely say that Xi Jinping comes at a time when US-Saudi relations have deteriorated and collapsed tremendously,” he said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said Mr. Xi’s scale is “the most vital and most important diplomatic event between China and the Arab world since the founding of the People’s Republic of China and will be a historic milestone in China’s history. “Arab relations”.
The Eurasia organization said the tone is “probably much more positive” than Biden’s.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, greeted through Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, governor of Riyadh, after arriving in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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