WASHINGTON (MEMO) – The Saudi-Chinese rapprochement is a direct result of the “bad American policy” established by the administration of President Joe Biden, former U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo says.
When asked about Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Saudi Arabia, the secretary of state in the administration of former president Donald Trump told Fox News: “When you won’t be partners with your friends and your allies, and you offend them, and you simply won’t do anything to push back against your adversaries, like Xi Jinping, you see exactly this kind of hedging behavior.”
“We, for the first time, we upended 40 years of American policy and recognized that the Chinese communist party was the singular greatest external threat to the United States of America. And when we did that, our friends and partners around the world joined along with us.”
Pompeo said the Biden administration “went soft on China. They called the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They said the leader was a pariah.”
“When you do those things, you will hurt the American people all across this country, and what you saw happen in the kingdom this week is a direct result of bad American policy.”
The Chinese president visited the Saudi capital, Riyadh, late last week. He held meetings with the Saudi leadership and participated in two Persian Gulf and Arab summits.
This visit came about three months after a Persian Gulf-Arab-American summit in the presence of U.S. President Joe Biden, and amid the differences between Washington and Riyadh regarding oil production cuts by the Riyadh-led OPEC+.