Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Ignored Western Concerns About China, Says More Deals With Beijing to Come

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman speaks during a panel discussion at the 10th Arab-China Business Conference in Riyadh on June 11, 2023. Fayez NURELDINE / AFP

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, delivered a blunt message to the United States on Sunday about the Kingdom’s increasingly close ties with China. 

The prince told an audience of 3,000 attendees on the opening day of the 10th Arab-China Business Conference in Riyadh that not only did he disregard U.S. concerns about the Kingdom’s increasingly close ties with Beijing, but he promised that relations will become even closer in the coming months with the announcement of a slate of new energy deals:

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