Muslim pilgrims wear masks at the Great Mosque in Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca.
Photographer: Abdel Ghani Bashir / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Abdel Ghani Bashir / AFP / Getty Images
When Chinese diplomat Tan Banglin defends his country’s treatment of Muslims amid international shouting, his remarks were less remarkable than where he had delivered them.
In a column last July for one of the most read newspapers in Saudi Arabia – the traditional protector of Muslims worldwide – Tan talked about how the Communist Party united with people in Xinjiang Province, which led to ‘major’ changes. It was like countries like the US were accuses China of putting Uighurs in detention camps.
The voice given to China‘s Consul General in Jeddah, less than 70 kilometers from Islam’s holiest city of Mecca, reflects the new political reckoning under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as he prioritises more secular national interests at a critical time for the kingdom. And it could serve him well if the government changes in Washington, despite the US opposition to Beijing’s actions in Xinjiang.
Portraits of Mohammed bin Salman and King Salman at a construction site in the King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh.
Photographer: Tasneem Alsultan / Bloomberg
The Saudi worldview is more shaped by harsh business calculations, shifting geopolitical realities and the rise of clean energy as a competitor for oil, while Turkey faces a challenge to gain the leadership of the Sunni Muslim sphere.
The kingdom is less outspoken about the Palestinian issue, which has been the cause of it for decades. Saudi support for the Muslim population is striking due to its absence in the disputed region of Kashmir, with the Pakistani government turning to Turkey while Prince Mohammed increases trade with India.
“Saudi Arabia has suffered under transnational political Islamism, where some of the citizens were among the first to travel to help fellow Muslims, but they did not identify much with their own national affairs,” Prince Abdullah bin Khaled said. , a Saudi academic, said. A course change was very welcome. ‘
US President Joe Biden has vowed to treat Saudi Arabia after four years of pariahs sociable relations with his predecessor, Donald Trump. Talks on human rights issues, the devastating war against Yemen and rivalry with Iran are likely to be uncomfortable when it finally happens.
There may also be more tension over the murder in 2018 of critic and columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul after Biden’s nominated candidate for national intelligence director promised this week to release a report on who was responsible for the killings.
Read more: US release of Khashoggi report could embarrass Saudi prince
But to retire from intervention abroad under the guise of supporting fellow Muslims – as Turkey does – could achieve some points, according to the Biden government Emily Hawthorne, a Texas analyst at Stratfor, who advises clients on geopolitical risks.
“Saudis consider it more important to become more of an economically focused modernized nation than to continue to cultivate that leadership role always in the wider Muslim world,” he said. Hawthorne. ‘It’s a gamble, but it may seem good to them to give Saudi Arabia some influence. ”
Mohammed bin Salman
Photographer: Alexander Zemlianichenko / AFP / Getty Images
Until a few years ago, it would have been rare to see a communist party in Saudi Arabia under pressure, not to mention one of the representatives of a country condemned for its alleged persecution of Muslims. In the 1980s, Saudis sent money and later their sons to Afghanistan to take part in the fight against the Soviet occupation of the country.
Saudi relations with China have strengthen beyond the supply of oil. King Salman, who took the throne in 2015, and the crown prince paid separate visits to Beijing. On his trip in 2019, it appeared that Prince China had defended and signed China’s alleged repression of Muslims an agreement to build a $ 10 billion refining and petrochemical complex.
This month, China’s Huawei launched its largest flagship store outside China in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Investment Minister Khalid AlFalih tweeted the news and said he was “delighted” with the announcement.
Mohammed bin Salman meets Xi Jinping in Beijing in 2019.
Photographer: How Hwee Young / AFP / Getty Images
It was a journey that began slowly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by 19 hijackers, 15 of them Saudi Arabia, and accelerated under Prince Mohammed.
Under pressure to crack down on extremists, Saudi Arabia waged a successful campaign against radicals in the 2000s. It is important that the late King Abdullah made the Saudi National Day a holiday on September 23, and angered radicals who believe that Muslims should not be divided by borders.
When he came to power four years ago, Prince Mohammed curbing the influence of the powerful religious institution, giving women more freedoms and allowing concerts and movie theaters. He also tightened control over how financial aid is distributed abroad, making it largely to governments rather than directly to Muslim groups. Alcohol, which is forbidden by the Qur’an, remains forbidden.
Prince Abdullah, the academic, said the change did not abandon Muslim issues, but rather had a balance between supporting it and the imperative, sensitivity and priorities of the state.
In fact, Saudi Arabia was the first country to be blamed for inciting Islamic terrorism. But after a series of gruesome attacks by jihadists in France last year, it was Turkey that singled out French President Emmanuel Macron as a stirrer.
Prince Mohammed has made it clear that the duty of the kingdom is to take care of the two holy mosques in Mecca and Madinah and make it accessible to Muslims worldwide.
Source: AFP / Getty Images
Saudi Arabia will always have the physical claim to Islam. Prince Mohammed made it clear through his actions and decisions that it is the duty of the kingdom to look after the two holy mosques in Mecca and Madinah and make it accessible to Muslims worldwide. One of the goals of his plan to restructure the economy is to expand the two sites and increase the number of pilgrims.
At the same time, the leadership has indicated that it is not the duty of the kingdom to solve the problems of Muslims worldwide.
When India nearly seven decades of autonomy revoked held by the quiet, mostly Muslim state of Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan, which also claims the region hoped that Saudi Arabia would galvanize Muslims around this issue. The kingdom, the largest overpayment source in Pakistan and among its largest creditors, do not have.
Instead, trade with India, which regards the kingdom as a major economic force, has since thrived when Saudi Arabia sought to deepen its foothold in the country. In the third quarter of 2020, India, along with Egypt, drove an increase in foreign investment in the kingdom, an important pillar of the Crown Prince’s economic diversification plan.
Meanwhile, Turkey has strengthened ties with Islamabad. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu opened a new consulate in Pakistan this month, promising to send investors to explore opportunities and provide for the signing of agreements in the film industry.
The relations between Turkey and Pakistan are “unique and enviable”, Mujahid Anwar Khan, Pakistan’s head of airlines, told Turkey’s state-run Andalou agency this month. He thanked the Turkish leadership for its “supportive statements” about Kashmir.
The The Saudis are currently losing the soft showdown to Turkey, Hawthorne said. “But they probably appreciate other games.” ‘Turkey has economic limits on how much it is willing to sacrifice its own economic interests to gain the soft power. This is never a zero-sum game. ”