CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VIII (2) ContEurVIII2 | Page 69

ARAM ABAJYAN
Western powers, the country tried to strengthen its cooperation with
China. Iran relied heavily on this support, considering the fact that China
is both a permanent member of the UN Security Council and the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Thus, cooperation with
China could have helped Iran with its various issues in the international
political arena. 16
In contrast to Iran, Saudi Arabia’s case was complicated. The
Kingdom was a long-standing US ally, which immediately complicated
Beijing’s efforts to establish much-needed cooperative relations with
Riyadh. However, the September 11 attacks in 2001 negatively affected
US-Saudi relations. Following the attack, Saudi leaders were upset by
anti-Saudi behavior in the US Congress, as well as the negative US public
opinion regarding their government. Hence, this event had a negative
impact on US-Saudi strategic partnerships. The Kingdom was also
dismayed by the new Bush administration’s Middle Eastern policy.
Although a small improvement in bilateral relations was noticeable after
the Bush-Abdullah meeting during the summit in Crawford, Texas in
April 2005. The Kingdom’s consternation regarding US policy did not
completely disappear. Moreover, in September of the same year, Saudi
Arabia’s foreign minister Saud al Faisal publicly criticized the United
States for its indifferent policy towards Iraq, thus allowing the country to
be embroiled in civil war. Taking into consideration these concerns, the
dynamics of the shifting attitude in Saudi Arabia’s strategy towards its
traditional partner the United States were becoming more evident.
Consequently, the Kingdom turned its eyes towards Beijing, developing a
more sustainable and strong relationship with China. Saudi Arabia’s
dramatic change in foreign policy strategy can be compared with Iran’s
case regarding these countries approaches towards the West on the one
hand and China on the other. Similar to Iran, Saudi Arabia also started to
encourage the expansion of Sino-Saudi relations, aiming to develop
bilateral cooperation in various economic fields.
China prioritized the oil-rich Gulf region especially at the start of
the 21 st century. Beijing’s purpose was to develop energy ties with all the
countries in the region. However, its foreign policy objective towards
expanding cooperative relations with the Gulf’s economic giant Saudi
Arabia seemed to be the most crucial issue for Chinese policymakers. 17

16 Leverett
17
and Bader, “Managing China-U.S.,” 194.
Ibid.
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