Document Type : Original Article from Result of Thesis
Highlights
Introduction
The geopolitical landscape of the Middle East has been slowly changing in recent years. The withdrawal of the traditional great powers created a remarkable opportunity for other countries to exploit this power vacuum to enhance their relationships with the countries in this region. China and Saudi Arabia are two major Asian countries located in the east and west of this continent. Despite the short history of formal relations between Saudi Arabia and China compared to the other countries in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia has a special position in China's Middle East policy, and it is China's largest trading partner in this region. As the primary regional rival of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia is striving to enhance its power, by using tools such as political, economic, military, and cultural ones, and weaken its rivals in the region, including Iran and its allies. On the other hand, China is regarded as one of the most powerful and influential actors in the international system. It is now the main economic rival of the United States and opposes American unilateralism in the world. Most important of all, China is among the few powerful countries in the world that maintain strong economic and political ties with Iran. Therefore, understanding the nature of the relations between China and Saudi Arabia can help the Islamic Republic of Iran's decision makers and decision takers acquire more knowledge of China's strategies in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East. They can also develop more effective strategic policies by taking the components of China’s relations with Saudi Arabia into account and via using the convergence and divergence in the political, economic, and military relations between these two countries. Despite their long and ancient history, China and Saudi Arabia have not established formal relations for various reasons. One of them is Saudi Arabia's reluctance to have formal relations with China due to the type of ideology that governs China. Therefore, this study aims to address the components and challenges of China’s foreign policy towards Saudi Arabia. In fact, the main research question is as follows: What are the components of China’s foreign policy towards Saudi Arabia, and what challenges may threaten this policy? This hypothesizes that Saudi Arabia's position in China’s foreign policy is based on components such as energy security, stabilization of the Arabian Peninsula, support for the Belt and Road Initiative in the region, protection of the Silk Road maritime route in the Red Sea, and alignment of Persian Gulf states with China's foreign policy and their collaboration in fighting terrorist groups. In addition, the major role of Saudi Arabia in this regard is challenged by factors such as China's economic and political relations with Saudi Arabia's regional rivals, US influence in Saudi Arabia, and the public opinion in Saudi Arabia regarding the situation of Uyghur Muslims.
Methodology
This descriptive-analytical study employed neoclassical realism as the theoretical foundation and desk studies as the data collection method to address the components and challenges of China’s foreign policy towards Saudi Arabia.
Findings
The results of this research show that relations between Saudi Arabia and China have expanded at an accelerated pace in recent years, and the two nations are experiencing a general strengthening of their ties. Although the development of their relations has intensified in areas like trade and economy, it is moving more slowly in security and military domains because of the close ties that exist between Saudi Arabia and the US, as well as between China and Iran. Because of its special spiritual position in the Islamic World and its political influence in the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council and other regional and Islamic organizations and regimes, Saudi Arabia is a strategic political actor for China in the region. Consequently, China aims to realize its political objectives in the Islamic world by building strategic relationships with Saudi Arabia. The primary objective of China is to attract the support of Islamic countries for China's initiatives in Xinjiang, followed by the total diplomatic isolation of Taiwan and endorsement of the One China policy. Besides the political matters in economy and trade, Saudi Arabia is China's largest trading partner in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is enhancing its political and economic relations with China to sustain its energy-centric relations with this country and extend them to areas such as new technologies, as well as military and security domains. Although the two countries have not had a long history of cooperation in security and military issues, they have concurrently enhanced their relations in these domains in recent years, in line with their political and economic ties. Saudi Arabia is seeking to enhance its military capabilities by purchasing both offensive and defensive weapons from China as an alternative to the US in order to garner the attention of the US government. As for China, Saudi Arabia's very high military expenditures make it a very good market for Chinese arms exports. However, all these foreign policy opportunities face three major challenges: Iran's economic and political relations with China, Saudi Arabia's strategic relations with the US, and the unclear situation of Uyghur Muslims. Therefore, if Saudi Arabia overlooks or fails to overcome these three challenges, they may seriously impede the further development of bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and China in the future. Additionally, the relations between China and Saudi Arabia may be faced with serious threats by factors such as the influence of the US (China's major rival) and Muslim Public Opinion. Of course, China is endeavoring to control these three challenges, along with other regional issues, by adopting certain strategies. An obvious example of these strategies is China’s mediator role in the resumption of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Conclusion
China's foreign policy towards Saudi Arabia has been shaped by various factors, particularly in the economic-commercial and security-military domains. Because of their considerable economic interests, the two countries have strong economic and commercial relations. Their trade relations and China's investments in Saudi Arabia influence the foreign policies of both countries. Saudi Arabia is one of the world's largest oil producers and China, as one of the largest oil consumers, pays special attention to its energy-based relations with Saudi Arabia. In addition, China places a significant emphasis on other markets, such as tourism and sale of products. Furthermore, China's investment in the Silk Road Initiative has redoubled Saudi Arabia's prominence in Chinese foreign policy. When it comes to military and security issues, Saudi Arabia is seeking to enhance its military capabilities by purchasing both offensive and defensive military weapons from China to have an alternative to US in order to garner the attention of the US government. In addition, Saudi Arabia can be a very good market for Chinese weapon exports because of Saudi Arabia's very high military expenditures. However, all these opportunities face three major threats: Iran's economic and political relations with China, Saudi Arabia's strategic relations with the US, and the unclear situation of Uyghur Muslims. If Saudi Arabia overlooks or fails to overcome these three challenges, they can seriously impede the further development of bilateral relations between China and Saudi Arabia in the future.
Subjects
