Some people are talking excitedly about a change in the regional paradigm or maybe the emergence of a Beijing-centric global order as a result of the détente that China negotiated between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
But the Biden administration’s response may be Nothing to see people.
U.S. authorities have made brief announcements to the public that minimize the project. In response to questions about specifics, they claimed that among other things: It’s a one-off situation; it was in China’s economic interest to manage the transaction; it shouldn’t transfer into long-term relationships; and whatever improves calm the region is in America’s interest.
While the Biden administration seeks unity with allies and trading partners to overcome what Secretary of State Antony Blinken calls Beijing’s danger to the “rules-based international order,” that show of casualness also indicates that the administration is excited to reduce worries that China is undermining America’s global influence.
In the end, this is a positive thing, a U.S. official stated in response to Beijing’s declaration on Friday that formal relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran had been restored. “We have been attempting to defuse the situation in the Middle East. The public is not giving the idea that the Chinese were capable of pulling this off much attention. 4 additional people, who were all given privacy to discuss a delicate diplomatic subject, made similar statements that reduced the agreement’s significance.
