*BEIJING – Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived in China onThursday on the latest stop of a sweep through Asia that aims to expand thekingdom’s influence on the continent.*
Prince Mohammed touched down in the morning following earlier visits toIndia and Pakistan.
He’s due to meet top officials including Chinese president and rulingCommunist Party leader, Xi Jinping, on Friday, highlighting Saudi Arabia’simportance as one of China’s top oil suppliers and a market for itsexports, including military drones.
Prince Mohammed’s visit to Beijing follows one earlier this week by ahigh-powered delegation from Saudi Arabia’s chief strategic rival Iran.
At a meeting on Wednesday, Xi told Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijanithat “China’s resolve to develop a comprehensive strategic partnership withIran will remain unchanged,” regardless of the evolving internationalsituation, according to China’s official *Xinhua News Agency*.
The trip comes five months after the crown prince came under intensepressure following the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the SaudiConsulate in Istanbul. At the same time, China is facing growinginternational criticism over its treatment of its Muslim minority groups.
The crown prince will meet China’s leadership, highlighting Saudi Arabia’simportance as one of China’s top oil suppliers and a market for its exports
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Thus far, Turkey has been the only majority Muslim country to criticiseBeijing, with its Foreign Ministry this month calling treatment of minorityUighurs “a great cause of shame for humanity” and saying it is “no longer asecret” that China has arbitrarily detained more than a million Uighurs in“concentration camps”.
Commenting Wednesday on the crown prince’s visit, Chinese Foreign Ministryspokesman Geng Shuang said recent years have “seen a positive momentum inour cooperation with fruitful outcomes in various areas such asinfrastructure and space satellites”.
“We hope that through this visit we will enhance our relations enhancemutual trust, deepen cooperation … and inject momentum into our bilateralrelations,” Geng said.
Prince Mohammed is due to visit South Korea after Beijing. MBS was in NewDelhi yesterday, where he met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi isin South Korea today for a two-day state visit and will meet with SouthKorean President Moon Jae-in.
