Thread by @GeringTuvia

For the first time, foreign ministers from KSA, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain, as well as GCC-General arrived in Beijing on a five-day visit through Friday. SISU's Middle East Studies Institute's Prof. Ding Long breaks down what it means.
Key points:
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- Trade and development: It marks the further alignment of development strategies and creates broad prospects for the development of bilateral relations. In 2021, the trade volume between China and the Gulf states will exceed the 200$ billion for the first time.
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- BRI: China is the only major country capable and willing to assist the Gulf countries in improving their infrastructure, industrialization, and economic transformation. Cont'd->
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Cooperation in emerging fields like upstream and downstream oil and gas production, manufacturing, high-tech, and renewable energy, and started looking into third-party market cooperation.
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- Pushback against the US: Gulf countries pursue a strategy of diversification. Why?
1) Since 9/11 the US-GCC alliance has been continually impacted, and Gulf countries have begun to hedge their bets to avoid the risk of relying solely on the United States.
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2) Since the US became an energy exporter, the underlying logic of the alliance relationship of "oil for security" has vanished.
3) Since the "Arab Spring," the US has repeatedly abandoned its Middle East allies, and "US security protection has proven to be unreliable".
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4) Gulf countries have been the primary targets of US "value diplomacy." The Yemen war and human rights issues were used by the US to suppress Gulf countries.
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5) The Gulf Arab countries and Israel are seen by the US as the frontline for the exclusion of China in the Middle East, as longtime US allies in the region. Cont'd->
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The Gulf countries [but not Israel] have resisted US pressure and have steadfastly supported China's position on key issues, refusing to become a bargaining chip in the game between China and the US.
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- Institutionalization of bilateral relations: The Gulf countries' relationship with Iran has long been strained. However, in 2021, China and Iran reached a 25-year long-term cooperation agreement, and the Gulf countries have accepted this reality. Cont'd->
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Now the GCC states seek to deepen the level of institutionalization and reach a similar long-term cooperation agreement with China. This demonstrates that the "look east" shift has spread throughout the Middle East.
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- Future plans: COVID cooperation, concluding FTA negotiations that have been ongoing since 2004, and preparation for the first China-Arab summit to be held in Saudi Arabia this year.
Concluding remarks:
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"More crucially, the visit sends a clear message to certain parties and forces attempting to "Cold Warify" the Gulf area, namely, that the old formula of battling over spheres of influence to undermine Middle East cooperation is out of fashion"
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Link:opinion.huanqiu.com/article/46LnYM…