Saudi Arabia's relations with China are functional, but not strategic, says Bruce Riedel, a former Central Intelligence Agency analyst.
In an article published by Brookings Institution, where he is now a senior fellow in the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, Riedel argues: "Saudi Arabia values its relations with China, but it is well aware of their limits. Beijing will not replace Washington in Riyadh's worldview, even if U.S.-Saudi relations falter in the next administration."
As with most
issues concerning the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh's relations with China
are all about oil. China is Saudi Arabia's top economic trading partner because
China is the biggest importer of Saudi oil. There is little strategic
cooperation between the two, however, and China does not share the Saudis'
hostility to Iran, Riedel said adding: Saudi Arabia's strategic partner remains
the United States, and almost all of its arms supply comes from the United
States, the United Kingdom, and other Western states.
Retracing the China-Saudi relations, Riedel said during 1980s, the Saudis were
eager to acquire medium-range ballistic missiles to deter both Iran and
Israel, but their traditional arms suppliers in the West would not sell
them.
Fahd and his defense minister, Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, decided to
reach out to China."Sultan turned to two of his sons Saudi ambassador to the
United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, and his brother who commanded
Saudi Arabia's air defense, Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al Saud to open a
dialogue with Beijing and then bring and install missiles to the kingdom
covertly, according to the former CIA analyst.
Bandar privately approached his Chinese counterpart in Washington, Han Xu, and
asked if Beijing would provide missiles. The answer back was positive, so
borrowing from former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's playbook, Bandar
traveled to Pakistan where he met secretly with Chinese officials. In July
1985, Bandar made the first of three secret visits to Beijing to work out the
details.
The Chinese then sent a secret team to Riyadh to meet with Prince Khalid to
engage military-to-military. The deal was finalized in December
1986: "Approximately 50" Chinese CSS-2 missiles, code-named East Wind; they would
be shipped to Saudi Arabia and installed in hidden in ground installations; and
the Chinese would train Saudi crews to operate them. Khalid made four trips to
China to finalize all the details and oversee the transfer. Khalid later wrote
that the missiles gave "us the capability to counterattack in event of an
attack on us by either Israel or Iran."
The Central Intelligence Agency detected the missile base in Saudi
Arabia in early 1988, prompting an immediate crisis between Washington and
Riyadh. President Ronald Reagan wanted the missiles removed immediately, but
Fahd refused. The story leaked into the Washington Post on March 18, 1988.
According to the Washington Post, the missiles are Chinese CSS2-class
surface-to-surface missiles that in their most advanced form have a range of
about 2,200 miles. Weapons of such range could permit Saudi Arabia to exert a
significantly greater impact on regional disputes ranging from the Persian Gulf
War between Iran and Iraq to Arab-Israeli conflicts.
The CSS2 is believed to be an offshoot of the rocket used by China to launch
its first satellite in 1970. The Chinese have been developing various military
versions, including one adapted for naval warfare, since the 1970s. Its
different models have ranges running from about 1,000 miles to 2,200 miles, and
the sources said the Saudis are believed to have acquired the most advanced
type.
The deal was also puzzling in that China equips the CSS-2 with nuclear
warheads. Why do the Saudis only have conventional
warheads? Rumors of a secret Pakistani commitment to provide nuclear
warheads have swirled for years,"also"without confirmation, Riedel said.
To underscore their anger with Washington's criticism of the missile purchase,
Fahd had U.S. Ambassador Hume Horan expelled from the kingdom, Riedel said.
The missiles remain operational in Saudi Arabia to this day. The Saudis
only displayed them once to the public: in 2014, during a parade
to honor the visiting Pakistani army chief of staff, General Raheel
Sharif.
"They have never been used in combat, either with Iraq in 1991 or today in the war in Yemen. The missile deal led to the opening of Saudi diplomatic relations with China", after another Bandar trip to Beijing in July 1990.
"But it did not
lead to additional large sales of military equipment. The Saudis have
purchased drones from China, which they use in Yemen," Riedel said, adding:
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