Saudi Arabia gave a "downward pressure" first!, The Antony Blinken people have not yet arrived in the United States | Strategy | Demobilization

Release time:Apr 13, 2024 20:45 PM

The US State Department announced on the 2nd that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will visit Saudi Arabia from the 6th to the 8th to discuss the "strategic cooperation" between the two countries.

This data photo taken on April 7, 2022 shows that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attended the NATO Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Brussels, Belgium. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zheng Huansong

Analysts said that Antony Blinken's visit sought to repair the bilateral relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia, and tried to promote the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, but it was difficult to make a breakthrough.

The US State Department said in a brief press release that Antony Blinken's visit to Saudi Arabia from the 6th to the 8th will discuss "strategic cooperation in regional and global affairs" between the US and Saudi Arabia, as well as a series of bilateral affairs, including economic and security cooperation.

During his visit, Antony Blinken will attend the ministerial meeting of the United States Gulf Arab States Cooperation Council to discuss cooperation between the United States and GCC countries in security, stability, economy and other aspects of the Middle East. In addition, combating the extremist organization "Islamic State" was also the topic of Antony Blinken's visit.


Saudi Arabia gave a "downward pressure" first!, The Antony Blinken people have not yet arrived in the United States | Strategy | Demobilization

Antony Blinken is the second US senior official to visit Saudi Arabia within a month after Jack Sullivan, the assistant to the US president for national security affairs in early May. Reuters said that the differences and suspicions between the United States and Saudi Arabia have deepened in recent years, and the US hopes to stabilize its relationship with Saudi Arabia through visits.

This is the city view of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, captured on December 6, 2022. Photo by Sui Xiankai, journalist from Xinhua News Agency

According to Agence France Presse, the United States' criticism of Saudi Arabia on human rights issues has led to strained relations between the two countries. President Joseph Biden's recent visit to Saudi Arabia nearly a year ago and Sullivan's recent visit have had limited impact on improving bilateral relations.

On the other hand, after the escalation of the Ukraine crisis, Saudi Arabia refused to take sides and did not comply with the US's demand to lower crude oil prices. Instead, it decided to reduce production, causing displeasure from the US.

Reuters commented that the long-term pillar of US Saudi relations, the role of "oil for security," is weakening. Gregory Gauss, a professor of international affairs at Texas A&M University in the United States, said that during the Cold War, the United States' major strategic initiatives could gain significant support from Saudi Arabia. "After the end of the Cold War, Saudi Arabia had little choice. But now, the period of extreme US dominance is basically over, and the Saudis understand that they have other options.".


Saudi Arabia gave a "downward pressure" first!, The Antony Blinken people have not yet arrived in the United States | Strategy | Demobilization

There has been a recent wave of reconciliation in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia's resumption of diplomatic relations with Iran, reconciliation with Syria, which is hostile to the United States, and the resumption of diplomatic relations that have been suspended for over a decade; Syria has also returned to the League of Arab States.

On the 2nd, Daniel Benem, Deputy Secretary of State for the Arabian Peninsula, stated at a briefing that the United States needs to ensure that "the region understands that the United States plays an important role in the region" and will continue to stay in the region.

Reuters believes that the United States is unlikely to achieve this goal in the short term in order to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. US Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, Barbara Lev, said in Congress this week that it is expected that Saudi Arabia and Israel will only gradually open up. A Gulf country official who declined to be named told Reuters that normalizing relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel would be "very difficult".

Just before Antony Blinken's visit, the latest "OPEC+" oil production policy was announced in the early morning of June 5, Beijing time. According to the meeting results, the current production reduction agreement of OPEC+, which will expire at the end of this year, has been extended until the end of 2024. Based on this, OPEC+has also decided to reduce collective daily production by 1.4 million barrels starting from January 2024. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia voluntarily lowered its daily crude oil production by 1 million barrels in July this year, to 9 million barrels per day, which will be the lowest level since June 2021. Saudi Arabia has stated that to ensure the stability of the oil market, the additional production reduction in July may be extended.

Two women were stabbed to death and reported to have committed a crime 4 days before the follow-up visit for schizophrenia. Suspect of a bloody murder case in a Hong Kong shopping mall appeared in court today. Male | Last Friday | Murder case
Two women were stabbed to death and reported to have committed a crime 4 days before the follow-up visit for schizophrenia. Suspect of a bloody murder case in a Hong Kong shopping mall appeared in court today. Male | Last Friday | Murder case

According to Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po, a bloody knife stabbing case occurred at Hollywood Square in Diamond Hill last Friday. The police arrested a 39 year old man on suspicion of stabbing two young women, one of whom was stabbed over 30 times. The suspect appeared in the Kwun Tong Magistrates Court this morning. The police at the Kwun Tong Magistrate's Court temporarily charged the suspect with two counts of murder last Sunday. The suspect appeared in court this morning at the Kwun Tong Magistrate's Court. Acting Chief Magistrate Zheng Jihang, after listening to the opinions of both the prosecution and defense, decided to postpone the hearing for two weeks until 9:30 am on June 19th, waiting for two psychiatric expert reports to be obtained. The defense did not object. Zheng Jihang approved the application, and the defendant needs to be temporarily detained at Xiaolan Mental Hospital. When the suspect appeared in court, he wore black framed glasses, a light gray shirt, and camouflage green shorts, and was able to answer the judge's questions normally. accordingly

Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee: The focus of Henan's "summer harvest" has shifted to agricultural machinery in the northern region of Henan Province. | Support | Science | Organization | Province | Northern Henan | Summer Harvest | Rush Harvest
Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee: The focus of Henan's "summer harvest" has shifted to agricultural machinery in the northern region of Henan Province. | Support | Science | Organization | Province | Northern Henan | Summer Harvest | Rush Harvest

Currently, the highly anticipated summer harvest work in Henan has shifted its focus to the northern region of Henan. According to the Henan Daily client, on June 4th, Lou Yangsheng, Secretary of the Henan Provincial Party Committee, presided over a special video scheduling meeting on the "Three Summers" work in the province, listened to the situation report, analyzed and judged the situation, and arranged and deployed the next steps of work. Governor Wang Kai made specific arrangements. On the evening of May 31, 2023, in Xiafutou Village, Xuliang Town, Boai County, Jiaozuo, Henan Province, villagers braved light rain in the wheat fields to harvest wheat. Visual China Map Lou Yangsheng pointed out that the current summer harvest battle in the province has entered the decisive stage. Doing a good job in summer harvest in northern Henan Province is related to the summer grain yield and seed safety. We should focus on seizing opportunities and make every effort to organize the wheat harvesting work in the northern Henan region, minimize losses, and protect the interests of farmers to the greatest extent possible. Accurate forecasting is essential

Xinhua All Media+| Welcome home! What innovative technologies are protecting the return journey of Shenzhou 15? Spaceship | Shenzhou | Technology
Xinhua All Media+| Welcome home! What innovative technologies are protecting the return journey of Shenzhou 15? Spaceship | Shenzhou | Technology

On June 4th, the return capsule of the Shenzhou-15 manned spacecraft successfully landed at the Dongfeng landing site. Astronauts Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming, and Zhang Lu all safely and smoothly exited the spacecraft, and the Shenzhou-15 manned flight mission was a complete success. What innovative technologies are there to safeguard the return journey of Shenzhou 15 in this mission? On June 4th, the return capsule of the Shenzhou-15 manned spacecraft successfully landed at the Dongfeng landing site. Xinhua News Agency reporter Lian Zhen photographed that "the sky and the ground" ensure the high-precision return of spacecraft. For the Shenzhou series spacecraft, the return and re-entry GNC technology is directly related to the life safety of astronauts. Taking the success of this return mission as a symbol, China has comprehensively upgraded its GNC system since the Shenzhou-12 manned spacecraft, which features autonomous rapid rendezvous and docking, autonomous adaptive prediction and re-entry return guidance, and has completed a comprehensive update and replacement

The Chinese naval fleet has arrived! Assembly | Navy | Chinese Fleet
The Chinese naval fleet has arrived! Assembly | Navy | Chinese Fleet

At noon today, a Chinese naval fleet consisting of Zhanjiang and Xuchang ships arrived at the assembly area of the "Comodo-2023" multinational maritime joint exercise. It is understood that the assembly anchorage for this exercise is 3 nautical miles long and 1.5 nautical miles wide, capable of anchoring up to 50 ships. Naval vessels from various countries participating in the exercise will also arrive at the anchorage today to complete the assembly of the "Komodo 2023" multinational maritime joint exercise, which is held every two years by the Indonesian Navy. This year is already the fourth edition of the exercise. The exercise will be held from June 5th to 8th in the city of Jakarta, South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, including the port and sea phases. In the coming days, participating navies from various countries will participate in ship reading style search and rescue exercises, maritime interception and damage management exercises, aerial exercises, and other course objectives exercises

New comment: Donkey like "morale" limit pulls US debt "bomb" fuse hard to dismantle US | debt | morale
New comment: Donkey like "morale" limit pulls US debt "bomb" fuse hard to dismantle US | debt | morale

On the evening of June 1st, the US Senate passed a bill on the federal government's debt ceiling and budget, and the flame of the US debt bomb was temporarily extinguished at the last moment. The two parties in the United States have staged an extreme tug of war over the US debt bomb. Some experts believe that the US debt crisis is the result of the reckless politics promoted by the US dollar hegemony, and the underlying cause of this crisis is the highly polarized political system of the US. Since the end of World War II, the US Congress has adjusted the debt ceiling more than a hundred times. The recurring debt crisis will not only have a catastrophic impact on the US economy and people's livelihoods, but also continuously erode the value of US dollar assets such as government credit and US bonds, bringing significant and far-reaching impacts to the global economic landscape. 【