When I asked if he would apologize to the Khashoggi family, he just laughed… Minimize airport reception
Biden observes request for increased oil production… Concerned regarding raising human rights issues
U.S. President Joe Biden visited Saudi Arabia on the 15th (local time) to make it a “bullying” by the international community and met for the first time with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is in power.
President Biden arrived in Jeddah, the seaside city of Saudi Arabia’s al-Salaam Royal Palace, on the 15th (local time) following a two-day visit to Israel.
This visit to Saudi Arabia drew great attention as US intelligence officials pointed out Crown Prince bin Salman as the mastermind behind the assassination of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and President Biden maintained a cold relationship with Saudi Arabia as a bully.
President Biden, who headed to the palace from the airport, greeted Crown Prince bin Salman immediately following getting out of his private vehicle, instead of shaking hands with a “fist bow”.
Prior to the trip to the Middle East, the White House announced that President Biden would minimize physical contact, such as refraining from shaking hands, due to the surge in COVID-19.
The fist greeting with Crown Prince bin Salman can be seen as an extension of that, but he joined hands with King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, who was immediately followed.
Earlier, in Israel, they shook hands with senior officials and even went to a Holocaust memorial to hug survivors.
“The policy of minimizing physical contact has led to speculation that President Biden will use it as an excuse to avoid shaking hands with Crown Prince bin Salman,” said The Hill. made it happen,” he pointed out.
Saudi TV broadcast without delay also released scenes of President Biden shaking hands with Crown Prince bin Salman and King Al-Saud without delay.
President Biden held an expanded working-level meeting with Crown Prince bin Salman following the meeting with the king.
Of course, the fact that Biden visited Saudi Arabia and had a meeting with bin Salman is considered to be of little significance.
Since President Biden has vowed to bully Saudi Arabia, the handshake is a scene that defines the essential meaning of reestablishing relations between the two countries, Archyde.com reported.
Bloomberg also reported that the fist bow ended the ‘era of bullying in Saudi Arabia’.
The US joint investigative team, where President Biden and Crown Prince bin Salman entered the conference hall at the beginning of the extended working-level talks, asked Biden loudly, ‘Is Saudi Arabia still bullying? threw the
However, the two leaders did not respond, and Crown Prince bin Salman appeared smiling, the report said.
Earlier, when President Biden arrived at Jeddah Airport, it was also notable that only a small number of low-ranking figures such as Mecca governor Khalid Alfaisal and Saudi ambassador to the United States were welcomed.
The Washington Post (WP) said, “Unlike the hearty and noisy welcome ceremony at the Israeli airport, President Biden only stayed for one minute and then left in a private vehicle.”
President Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia is to seek cooperation in increasing oil production following a surge in oil prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been on fire.
In particular, it is widely analyzed that the surge in oil prices, which leads to inflation, erodes his approval ratings, and he put his pride down in a sense of crisis that this would be a bad news for the midterm elections in November.
Of course, the White House hinted that there would be no immediate announcement of an increase in oil production on the tour, The Hill reported.
However, there is also ongoing controversy over whether the Saudis have neglected the human rights issue represented by the Khashoggi assassination for this reason.
President Biden is expected to have discussed issues such as increasing oil production as well as human rights and the war in Yemen during his meeting with Crown Prince bin Salman.
Biden had told reporters the day before that he would not avoid raising human rights issues in Saudi Arabia.
However, he did not promise to bring up the issue of Khashoggi’s assassination.
Another purpose of this visit to Saudi Arabia is to counter Russia and China, which are expanding their influence in the Middle East.
President Biden said in a joint meeting with Israeli interim prime minister the day before, “The visit to Saudi Arabia has a bigger reason to advance the national interest of the United States.” said
/yunhap news