Sean Foley
For much of the last twenty years, China’s ties
with Saudi Arabia have been understood in commercial terms, with most
scholars arguing that the relationship has little cultural or historical
depth. Drawing on multiple trips to China between 2011 and 2015 along
with a ten-month period living continuously in Saudi Arabia in 2013 and
2014, this paper argues that there are factors other than economics that
should be considered: namely, historical ties dating back to the
seventh century, Saudi cultural and geo-strategic linkages to the United
States, and the new economic and political geography of Eurasia. While
cultural and strategic factors have limited the growth of Saudi-Sino
ties since the start of the Arab Spring, they are likely to be the
factors that allow for the two sides to realize the potential of their
bilateral relationship in the future—even while retaining their close
current alliances with other great powers.
