Hu to woo Saudis after US, seeking energy security

Chinese President Hu Jintao has wooed the United States with a message that his nation wants to “peacefully develop”, but the next stop on his tour will highlight just how anxious China is for oil to fuel that growth.

..By flying from Washington to Riyadh, Hu is demonstrating how important the Saudi kingdom and its oil are for China, whose burgeoning demand has helped push world crude prices to this week’s all-time highs over $72 a barrel.

..Saudi Arabia keeps powerful security ties with the United States, and it has insisted that its growing ties with Beijing are no threat to Washington.

“We don’t think we need to counter-balance our relationship with the United States,” the Saudi Ambassador to Washington, Prince Turki Al-Faisal, told a U.S. television interview in January. “There is no contradiction whatsoever or competition in our eyes from selling to China and India.”

But Calabrese said that while Saudi Arabia does not want to test ties with Washington, it may want to hedge against any future tensions.

“A visit like this can push buttons to remind Washington it has something to lose from a deteriorating relationship,” he said of Hu’s trip to Saudi Arabia.

Reuters