Surprised nobody has picked up on this.
Last Week Premier Wen flew to Saudi and the Gulf and wrote a very large amount of Hydrocarbon related business. Not so much in the headlines was a deal which is probably far more significant and could be responsible for a dramatic reshaping of the security environment of the Middle East, not to mention the future of the petrodollar.
China and Saudi Arabia have signed a deal to develop civilian Nuclear energy on the Peninsular and while the Saudi's have similar types of agreements with some European countries, this is being seen a very different type of animal, mainly on account to Chinese history in the Nuclear programmes of Pakistan and North Korea.
It seems as though the belief is that China is going to sponsor a nuclear programme in Saudi which is almost identical to the Iranian programme. Obviously this is going to throw up significant diplomatic problems and create tension between the House of Saud, Tel Aviv and Washington.
If China indeed perceives the US "Return to Asia" as a policy of constraint against its own growth of influence in the Western Pacific, is the Saudi Deal Beijing's answer?
Last Week Premier Wen flew to Saudi and the Gulf and wrote a very large amount of Hydrocarbon related business. Not so much in the headlines was a deal which is probably far more significant and could be responsible for a dramatic reshaping of the security environment of the Middle East, not to mention the future of the petrodollar.
China and Saudi Arabia have signed a deal to develop civilian Nuclear energy on the Peninsular and while the Saudi's have similar types of agreements with some European countries, this is being seen a very different type of animal, mainly on account to Chinese history in the Nuclear programmes of Pakistan and North Korea.
It seems as though the belief is that China is going to sponsor a nuclear programme in Saudi which is almost identical to the Iranian programme. Obviously this is going to throw up significant diplomatic problems and create tension between the House of Saud, Tel Aviv and Washington.
If China indeed perceives the US "Return to Asia" as a policy of constraint against its own growth of influence in the Western Pacific, is the Saudi Deal Beijing's answer?