The U.S. wants Saudi Arabia to normalize ties with Israel, Saudi Arabia wants to build a civilian nuclear power program but the U.S. doesn’t want Riyadh to enrich its own uranium for fear it could be used to build weapons — so Saudi Arabia turns to China as leverage against the U.S.
The state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) has already submitted a bid to build a plant in eastern Saudi Arabia, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, highlighting that the pressure on the U.S. to make some concessions on the uranium issue is real.
