WASHINGTON — Several Democratic lawmakers in the House have signed a letter urging President Biden to take a more cautious approach to Saudi Arabia and warn the kingdom against pursuing more strategic ballistic missile cooperation with China.
The letter comes as Mr. Biden plans to travel to Saudi Arabia this summer, a trip that some leading Democrats have criticized. California Democrat Adam B. Schiff, who led the drafting of the letter, said on Sunday that Mr. Biden should not go to Saudi Arabia, citing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s role in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a reporter for the Washington Post.
The letter, from Mr. Schiff and five other House committee chairmen, does not urge Mr Biden to call off his trip, but does say that engagement with the kingdom should focus on “recalibrating that relationship to to serve America’s national interests”.
Lawmakers put forward six areas on which the government should focus with the Saudis: global oil markets, the war in Yemen, the detention of human rights defenders, the investigation into the Khashoggi assassination, efforts to acquire civilian nuclear technology and military cooperation with China. .
China is helping Saudi Arabia build ballistic missiles and acquire more capable missiles, US officials say. The letter marks the first time US lawmakers have publicly raised the missile issue with the White House and urged action.
Saudi Arabia has been buying short-range ballistic missiles from China for years. But in the past two years, that relationship has intensified, even as the United States and China have become increasingly hostile. The Saudis are now buying more capable missiles that can travel farther, and they are acquiring the technology to make their own components, set up production facilities and conduct test launches, US officials say, with the ostensible goal of being able to produce their own missiles in the future.
In December, DailyExpertNews reported that US intelligence officials had determined that China had shared key ballistic missile technology with Saudi Arabia.
“The missile issue is separate from the nuclear concerns in the region,” said Dalia Dassa Kaye, a Middle East expert at the Burkle Center for International Relations at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Now there are concerns that Saudi Arabia is creating indigenous capabilities for building missiles.”
US officials are also concerned that Saudi Arabia could attempt to build nuclear weapons if Iran develops one. Iran has a civilian nuclear program that the United States and other countries are trying to limit so that its leaders can’t turn it into a weapons program. But the Biden administration’s strategy to do that — by getting Iran to abide by the terms of a nuclear deal from which the Trump administration withdrew — is failing.
Saudi Arabia is a close US partner and a major buyer of US military hardware. But as the kingdom and Prince Mohammed came under increasing criticism after Khashoggi’s assassination, Saudi Arabia stepped up its work with China, which is a major buyer of Saudi oil and has growing military interests in the Indo-Pacific region.
Saudi Arabia has pushed to improve its missile capabilities while Iran, its main rival, has done the same. Iran has short and medium range ballistic missiles that can hit any part of the Middle East and Southern Europe. The most advanced missile is the Shahab-3, which can travel more than 800 miles.
Saudi Arabia remains highly dependent on US military training and equipment, allowing the Biden administration to exert influence. And in their letter, Democratic lawmakers urged Biden to use that leverage.
“Public reports indicate that Saudi Arabia is pursuing more strategic cooperation with China, including further purchases of ballistic missiles,” the letter said. “We urge you to clarify that partnering with China in a way that undermines US national security interests will have a lasting negative impact on the US-Saudi Arabia relationship.”
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said at an online event last week that Mr. Biden took office with the intention of ensuring that the US relationship with Saudi Arabia “served our own interests, as well as our values, as we move forward.”
“But also to keep it,” added Mr. Blinken, “because it also helps us achieve many important things.”
He said the government had tried to tackle Khashoggi’s murder and urged the Saudis to help end the war in Yemen and end human rights abuses in their own country. But he failed to mention Saudi Arabia’s growing military and security ties to China, which he and Mr Biden have both said is the United States’ biggest long-term challenger.
“The point I want to make is that we want to make sure that through the relationship we are representing all interests in that relationship,” said Mr. Shine on the ties between the US and Saudi Arabia. “We’re trying to bring all that together and take a comprehensive approach to Saudi Arabia, like we do with any other country.”