Saudi Arabia says US, China ties not ‘zero-sum game’
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, meanwhile, insists the nation is not being asked to choose sides between superpower rivals Washington and Beijing
- China’s growing role in the Middle East was demonstrated when it brokered a surprise rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran in March
Saudi Arabia said on Thursday its relations with the United States and China were not a “zero-sum game”, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted its ally was not being asked to choose sides.
Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, in a joint press conference with Blinken, played down talk that the oil-rich kingdom was moving away from Washington in favour of its giant rival, Beijing.
“I don’t ascribe to this zero-sum game,” Prince Faisal said in Riyadh. “We are all capable of having multiple partnerships and multiple engagements and the US does the same in many instances.
“So I’m not caught up in this really negative view of this. I think we can actually build a partnership that crosses these borders.”
03:11
China, Iran pledge to deepen cooperation as both grapple with strained US ties
China’s growing role in the Middle East was demonstrated when it brokered a surprise rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran in March, seven years after the two heavyweights severed ties.
The deal, announced in Beijing, followed recent tensions between Saudi Arabia and the US, its decades-old security guarantor, mainly over human rights and oil prices.