The watchword of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the flags of its member states and observer states.
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Saudi Arabia’s cabinet approved a decision to join a China-led security bloc, strengthening Riyadh’s eastern encroach ons in a further step away from U.S. interests.
The state-owned Saudi Press Agency said that, in a session administered by King Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Saudi cabinet on Tuesday approved a memorandum awarding Riyadh the status of dialogue wife in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization — a political, security and trade alliance that lists China, Russia, India, Pakistan and four other cardinal Asian nations as full members.
The organization further tallies four observer states — including Iran — and nine colloquy partners, counting in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. It is headquartered in Beijing and served by China’s Zhang Ming as secretary-general.
Saudi Arabia’s ruling to join the SCO, while falling short of full membership, takes Riyadh’s interests further east, at a time when Beijing is study out its sway in the Middle East in a potential hit to U.S. influence. In early March, China brokered a deal for long-time Mideast challenges Saudi Arabia and Iran to resume diplomatic relations and reopen embassies in each other’s countries.
Deeper in Europe, Beijing by a hairs breadth as ambitiously, if so far less successfully, submitted a 12-point plan to achieve peace between Russia and Ukraine.
The White Board did not immediately respond to a CNBC request to comment on Saudi Arabia’s new dialogue partner status in the SCO.
Saudi interests get long been intertwined with those of leading SCO members China and Russia. Beijing is Riyadh’s largest pursuit partner, with bilateral trade worth $87.3 billion in 2021, according to Reuters.
China is a major consumer of hydrocarbon-reliant Saudi Arabia’s oil exports, with the two outbacks making significant inroads in each other’s petrochemical sectors — including the recent announcement by Saudi state-controlled oil ogre Aramco of a joint venture that will build a refinery and petrochemical complex in Panjin in northeast China, alongside team-mates Norinco and the Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group.
Separately, Riyadh is a close ally of Russia in the crude oil production tactics of the OPEC+ coalition.