China stays silent over killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi

But analysts say even if Beijing is hoping to move closer to Riyadh, its role in the Middle East will be limited

China is the kingdom’s largest trading partner and is trying to expand its presence in the region

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Saudi Arabia said Jamal Khashoggi’s death was a “huge and grave mistake”. Photo: Metafora Production via AP

Published: 8:33pm, 22 Oct 2018Updated: 10:49am, 23 Oct 2018

Amid an international outcry over the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and calls for the US and Europe to impose sanctions on Saudi Arabia, China has remained conspicuously silent.

But analysts say even if Beijing is hoping to move closer to the Middle East kingdom in the event of sanctions being applied, ties between Washington and Riyadh remain strong – and China’s role in the region would be limited.

Saudi Arabia on Monday said Khashoggi’s death at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul was a “huge and grave mistake” – after earlier denying for two weeks that the 59-year-old Washington Post journalist had been killed and then later admitting it.

The saga has caused uproar, with Germany, Britain and France calling for Saudi Arabia to provide facts, and Chancellor Angela Merkel saying Germany would not export arms to the kingdom while uncertainty over Khashoggi’s fate persisted.

But Beijing has refrained from commenting on the case, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang last week saying only that China was aware that an investigation was under way.

No further statement has been issued on the saga, either by Beijing or in state media.

As Saudi Arabia has sought to move away from its reliance on the United States in recent years, it has tried to step up engagement with China, the kingdom’s largest trading partner with US$42.36 billion in bilateral trade in 2017. Last March, the two countries signed US$65 billion worth of deals in areas ranging from energy to space technology.