US President Joe Biden intends to “recalibrate” the US’ relationship with Saudi Arabia and would emphasize outreach to Saudi Arabian King Salman, a move that signals a downgrade in ties with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, the nation’s de facto ruler.
In Biden’s first few days in office, the US put a hold on some key weapons sales to the kingdom and announced new efforts to bring an end to the Saudi Arabian-led war in Yemen.
Biden has also called on Riyadh to improve its human rights record.
Photo: Reuters
“We’re going to recalibrate our relationship with Saudi Arabia,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Tuesday.
“Part of that is going back to engagement counterpart-to-counterpart. The president’s counterpart is King Salman,” she said.
Instead of engaging primarily with Biden, the crown prince’s most appropriate counterpart is US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, a person familiar with the matter said.
While Prince Mohammad’s official role is deputy prime minister and defense minister, he has a vast range of responsibilities as heir to the throne his father has held since 2015.
The changes suggest that relations would return to “more structured, routine channels,” said Aaron Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former Middle East official at the US Department of State.
“This is a slapdown of MBS, who the administration views as reckless and ruthless,” Miller said, referring to Prince Mohammad.
Separately, Biden said that China would pay a price for its human rights abuses.
Responding to queries at a televised event on Beijing’s handling of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, Biden said that “there will be repercussions for China and [Chinese President Xi Jinping, 習近平] knows that.”
Xi has drawn global criticism for holding Uighurs in internment camps and other human rights abuses.
The US would reassert its global role in speaking up for human rights, Biden said, adding that he would work with the international community to get China to protect them.
“China is trying very hard to become a world leader and to get that moniker and be able to do that they have to gain the confidence of other countries,” he said.
“As long as they are engaged in activity that is contrary to basic human rights, it is going to be hard for them to do that,” he said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique