Strengthened China-Saudi ties raise prospects for use of yuan in oil settlement

 

Strengthened China-Saudi ties raise prospects for use of yuan in oil settlement - Global Times, Dec 08

China-Saudi move helps hedge against uncertainties, weakens US dollar hegemony

A discussion of shift to use Chinese yuan in China-Saudi oil settlement is increasingly rising recently amid an ongoing visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the country.

The shift is deemed as necessary by observers from both countries in light of the "increasing weaponization of the dollar dominated financial system," they said, hoping the move to inject certainty to bilateral trade and dent the US dollar's hegemony of the global petroleum market.

More frequent use of each other's currency is also highlighted in the agenda of the Chinese government. In a report titled "China-Arab Cooperation in the New Era," which the Chinese Foreign Ministry released on December 3, China said it will strengthen monetary cooperation with central banks of Arab countries, and discuss expanding cross-border local currency settlement and swap arrangements.

China is Saudi Arabia's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade worth $87.3 billion in 2021. "Using the Chinese yuan to settle a portion or all of their trade, whether it be oil-related or not, is only logical and normal, especially in light of the increasing weaponization of the dollar dominated financial system," said Ebrahim Hashem, former adviser to the chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Office.

"Settling their trade in their local currencies, especially in the Chinese yuan, will further cushion their trade against possible politicization of the international financial system," Hashem said.

The talks over yuan-priced oil contracts have been going on for years, but this year witnessed signs of acceleration.

"If those active talks between Riyadh and Beijing succeed in pricing some of Saudi Arabia's oil sales to China in yuan, then it is a step that would reduce the dominance of the dollar in the global oil market," said Nadia Helmy, professor of political science, Beni Suef University, Egypt. "I believe that allowing oil payments to be made in yuan may pave the way for the creation of a (parallel system for international payments) in which the Chinese yuan will have the same importance and strength as the US dollar," the expert said.

Anonymous 

All Ponzi schemes must go bust, a matter of time

 von Mises said: “There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion”. Quoted from a post by Anonymous.

Many high spending but low thinking individuals have encountered this painful experience and ended up in very bad shape, deep in debt or bankruptcy. It is a no brainer not to spend beyond your means, spend what you do not have but keep chalking up debts by using the credit card, ie expanding credit. 

The American economy has been on this mode for more than half a century, living on debt, on borrowed money, on borrowed time, thinking that they could kick the can down the road forever, with their hegemony in the greenback. The Americans think that they can control the world and make the world dependent on the shit papers they are printing with increasing volumes and have no way to stop the trend, to stop the Americans from feasting on the efforts and labour of the world, without having to work for it.

The more the rest of the world think about it, that they have been taken for a ride by the Americans, working like slaves, slogging day in and day out, to feed the lavish and outlandish lifestyle of the Americans, to live in great style and gluttony, by just printing shit papers in exchange for their goods, the angrier would be the world and the more they would want to end this parasitic and exploitative relationship.

This awareness and awakening is not new, but were well known for decades. It was the inability of the rest of the world to resist, to dump the US$ as they were too weak to stop the process. Those who tried to change the imbalance were simply killed by the Americans eg Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi and many others.

Today the table has turned. There are enough big powers to challenge the unchallenged, once almighty American war machine. The rise of China and Russia has made it possible to take on this challenge, to stop the Americans from exploiting the rest of the world against their will and interests. The Americans thought they were very smart in devising this dollar hegemony, with the greenback as the world reserve currency, the must used currency for trade. No, the rest of the world is not stupid.

The moment they see an opportunity to break away from the American gridlock and oppression, they quickly seized the chance to end it. China and Russia are taking the lead, and one by one, the countries of the world are joining the bandwagon, to dump the greenback, to tell the Americans that the free ride must stop. And it is going to stop very fast, gaining speed by the day, to end the dollar hegemony for a fairer and just world.

Any economy or scheme that is lopsided, based on deceit, or rely on kicking the can further down the road must come to a dreadful end. An economy relying on the import of unproductive foreign worker immigration must come to the same dreadful end. 

Do you think the CPF scheme and ever inflating price of HDB flat would come to the same sad ending? For sure the end of the dollar hegemony would come first as the rest of the world has got pissed off with it and working to bring its collapse, intentionally and with full conviction and commitments.

Xi's epoch making visit to Saudi Arabia - 7 Dec - 10 Dec 2022

 

Photo credit to Reuters

Photo credit to BBC

Photo credit to WSJ

Photo credit to Korea Times

This trip will change the geo political balance of the world and a stamp on the declining influence of the US in the Middle East. The world would not look back on this moment anymore and will charge into a new future with the rise of China and the rise of the Middle East Arab states led by a new Arab leader in Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, MBS.

Below reported in Al Jazeera. By Marwan Bishara

Washington won’t want to share its sphere of influence. But new Gulf leaders and Xi Jinping have other ideas.

Before President Xi Jinping has even set foot on Saudi soil, there’s already talk of “stepping on Washington’s toes” and of interfering in a “US sphere of influence”.

Indeed, during his visit to Riyadh only five months ago, United States President Joe Biden told a summit of Arab leaders that the US “will not walk away” from the Middle East to leave “a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran”. Biden has also tried to assure allies that the humiliating US withdrawal from Afghanistan last year will actually free more resources for its long stay in the Gulf and wider region.

But that has not deterred Xi or his hosts from organising, in addition to a bilateral summit, separate summits with Arab states and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) during the Chinese president’s visit to Riyadh from December 7-9. To rub salt into the wound, they might even go the extra mile in making the summits appear more prestigious than those organised for Biden.

Elon Musk fears 'suicide' or being 'suicided'

Twitter owner Elon Musk confirmed on Saturday that he does “not have any suicidal thoughts.” The businessman made the remarks while exposing the details of how the social media platform quelled the spread of the Hunter Biden laptop story ahead of the 2020 US presidential election.

“If I committed suicide, it’s not real,” Musk stated during a livestream titled “Elon Musk Joins Us Again Live - #TwitterFilesLive Coverage.”....

Musk had alerted his followers that the files showcasing Twitter’s suppression of the Hunter Biden ‘laptop from Hell’ story would be revealed during the event, and hundreds of thousands were tuned in to hear what the platform’s new owner had to say about his predecessors’ handling of the scandal.

The above is from an article in RT dated 4 Dec 2022.

Why would Elon Musk talked about his suicide out of the blue? He must be referring to the Jeffery Epstein's suicide in jail as something that may happen to him in a similar manner. Epstein was the notorious paedophiles and organiser of paedophile parties for the American and European elites whose names were among the who's who, including Presidents, PMs and royalties. He was 'suicided' or silenced in jail to stop him from spilling the beans and embarrassing all the respectable paedophiles in the American, British and European high societies. These 'respectable' paedophiles are still strutting around as if nothing has happened and that they would not be known or exposed, now that Epstein had committed 'suicide' in jail in suspicious circumstances like all the guards were either asleep or not around and all the closed circuit surveillance cameras were switched off or not working.

Musk very likely thought that he might ended up in the same way as Epstein, committed 'suicide' for no good reason but for wanting to expose what is in Hunter Biden's 'laptop from Hell'.  He is likely to know what is going to happen to him, his friends may have forewarned him of this outcome. This is the typical outcome of victims of American freedom of expression. The victims just committted 'suicide' for no good reason other than speaking out. 

Julian Assange and Snowden could also have committed 'suicide' long ago if they had not escaped from the land of the free. They are lucky to live to tell their stories. Snowden is quite safe in Russia now. But Assange is still in a very precarious situation and likely to commit 'suicide' anytime.

Many top Chinese scholars in the US had also committed 'suicide' at the peak of their career or with promising career awaiting them on their return to China. Many of them were very young and very talented Ph D graduates with outstanding achievements in their fields. Yes, they committed 'suicide' or met with accidents in the US.

Musk is sounding the alarm as an early warning to pre empt any attempt on his life. Hopefully this disclosure works and would save him from being 'suicided' prematurely, for being the richest man in the world.

Get the drift?

China and Arab Summit - A new strategic partnership in the making

 Xi Jinping is now visiting Saudi Arabia to be followed by a China Summit with 14 Arab countries. Both the visit to Saudi Arabia and the Summit are earth moving events with strategic implications to the world. Xi's 3 day visit to Saudi Arabia marks an important monumental shift in Saudi's relation with China vis a vis the USA. The visit is an official statement that Saudi Arabia is elevating China as its number one strategic partner and downgrading its decades old dependency on the Americans. The Saudis have discarded all illusions that the Americans are a reliable and trustworthy ally and friend.  In their reticence, the Saudis are fully awared that the Americans are 100% behind Israel and Saudi Arabia's interests are dispensable and would be compromised for the interests of Israel. The Americans would sacrifice the Saudis if needed to, if the Israelis demanded for it.

The Saudis are also playing a pivotal role to organise the Summit of 14 Arab states with China as leader of the Arab world. Other than a handful of Arab states that are still under the control of the Americans, most of the Arab states have taken the same stand as Saudi Arabia, to upgrade their relations with China to a higher level than the Americans. 20 of the Arab states have already signed up for the BRI.

The Americans may be everywhere in the Middle East, but mostly in nefarious activities like supporting and training terrorist groups and activities, indulging in Arab Spring to destabilise Arab states and the region. All the wars in the Middle East are started by the Americans. All the invasions of Arab states are committed by the Americans. They started the wars, created instability and insecurity, then they offered themselves as the protector of peace. In the first, without the Americans presence there were peace. Only when they came that there woulld be no peace. The Americans would guarantee that in everywhere they go.

China is also everywhere in the Middle East but pursuing totally different activities, mainly in building infrastructures and trade. Iraq has chosen China as the priority partner to rebuild its war torn country, thanks or no thanks to the destruction caused by the invasion and occupation by American forces. There were massive infrastructure projects in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, building major new cities and high speed trains, ports and roads in cooperation with China.

The Arab countries have chosen peace and development and staying away from incessant and unending wars with their neighbours, agitated and instigated by the Americans. They are not going to continue to be manipulated by the evil Americans in destructive and unproductive matters that would ruin their economies and adversely affect the well beings of their people. China is there as a cooperative partner to deliver whatever the Arab countries need in building a new, peaceful and prosperous Arab world. They have had enough of wars and instability and destruction and wasting of lives and properties.

They have found a useful partner in China to work with for a better future, no wars, devoid of wars. The warmongering Americans are not what they want as friend and partner going forward. Relationship with China is on an equal basis, mutual respect, no threats, no arm twisting, no bullying, no name calling, no insult to a nation's leader by calling him a pariah. No one will be talking down to another leader like a gangster, do what I want or else? You can only be the friend of the USA and no one else.

The world are waiting anxiously for more earth shattering joint declarations from the visit and the Summit between China and the Arab world. Big deals will be signed, worth many billions. Tighten your seat belt for the good news.

PS. China does not engage in slapping its allies, friends or even enemies everyday by using fake excuses or fabricated lies, like human rights, democracy, authoritarianism, dictatorship etc etc. hehaving like an evil Empire or an international gangster.