I haven’t read the article, yet, but I will go back to a statement a Saudi official made about how the Chinese are willing partners and don’t impose insufferable terms on economic and technological partnerships. The Saudi official mentioned how Saudi Arabia first pursued such deals with Western countries, but the terms demanded were unfavourable, and so China is winning because the West is choosing to lose.

Edit:

I’m reading it now, and this is a very critical piece of information:

“Belt and Road Initiative’’ partner countries have increased their imports of Chinese products by 8.9% in the past decade alone, while in 2021, bilateral trade between the Persian Gulf countries and China grew at a record 44.3%. When the global economy slowed in 2022, trade between the Gulf countries and China still grew 27.1%, a stark contrast to the falling trade between China and both Japan and the United States.

While Western regimes were barking like rabid dogs over BRI, China was winning new markets and reducing its dependence on the West.

China’s “Official Policy Document on Arab Countries” describes the advantages of “wooing” Arab states through investment and trade, aerospace technology through the Beidou navigation system, as well as “cooperation in weapons and equipment” and “joint military training.”

We like being wooed, much more than being coerced.

Notably, the exercise was held in China’s restive Xinjiang region, where the Chinese government has reportedly detained more than 1 million Muslims in reeducation camps.

And the only source they cite is the Council on Foreign Relations.