Thread by @Cinzia_Bianco

@ECFRMena & @ECFRAsia cross-over! Me & @a_bachulska wrote a short piece on #China - #GCC relations *seen from both sides.* We thought there was an abundance of partial viewpoints but really scarcity of strategic comprehensive overview. 1/

ecfr.eu/article/an-ope…

The first thing we do is put to rest the once ubiquitous argument that #China-#Gulf relations are only economic. In fact, they are grounded in compatible visions of #multipolarity. A year after #RussiaInvadedUkraine, multipolarity is the real winner! 2/

tinyurl.com/9dkx6xv3

#Beijing is the 1st #trade partner for the monarchies & invested in key infrastructures, ie acquired 20% of largest #port in #SaudiArabia (Jeddah). But #GCC leaders are also wary of Chinese reliability-ie obstacles to sign #FTA despite #Xi insistence. 3/

tinyurl.com/9dkx6xv3

#China-#GCC #energy ties then, both #oil & #LNG border actual, proper dependency. This explains shared strategic interests to shield these from potential #Western sanctions, ie by expanding non-dollar financial infrastructure, including #crypto. 4/

tinyurl.com/9dkx6xv3

Myself & @a_bachulska argue that beyond all these contingent data what glues #China & #Gulf monarchies together is a shared vision for a multipolar world & effective narratives: 5/

tinyurl.com/9dkx6xv3

In this @ECFRMena & @ECFRAsia piece, we suggest #Gulf monarchies feel super confident they won’t be forced to pick sides btwn #US & #China & have pushed back half-backed US threats (#Huawei). It might be more effective now for #Europe-ans to also play the multipolar game: 6/6

@UnrollHelper unroll please?