‘This Would Be A Game Changer’: Blinken Touts Deal To Normalize Israel-Saudi Relations

3 months ago

During a House Appropriations Committee hearing last week, Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) questioned Secretary of State Antony Blinken about economic coercion by China and the potential deals with Saudia Arabia.

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Transcript

00:00 Mr. Chairman, Mr. Cole.

00:01 Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

00:02 Mr. Secretary, as you know, the People's Republic of China has repeatedly used economic coercion

00:08 against the United States, our allies, and frankly, non-aligned countries as well, and

00:15 quite often trying to extract a political advantage or trap a country in a debt trap,

00:21 literally, in order to have influence over its behavior.

00:24 That runs very much counter, obviously, to a rules-based international order.

00:29 So I'm wondering what you and the Department are doing to counter those kinds of activities,

00:33 and frankly, do you have the tools that you need?

00:36 I know my colleague, Mr. Meeks, and I, along with Young Kim and Amy Barrow of the Foreign

00:43 Relations Committee, actually have legislation to try and give you more tools to deal with

00:47 that.

00:48 So could you tell us how serious do you view the problem, and what weapons you have and

00:52 are using, and what weapons you might need?

00:54 Yes, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

00:56 I think it's an important question and one we're very focused on.

00:58 I'd say two things quickly about that.

01:00 One is we want to make sure that wherever we can, we can make – create a better alternative

01:08 for countries as they're looking at investment, because the main way that China exercises

01:15 this coercion is, of course, by getting the leverage that comes through investments, including

01:19 through Belt and Road.

01:20 So we have done a tremendous amount of work putting together all of the resources and

01:25 tools in our government, working with allies and partners through the PGI the President

01:31 established at the G7, the Mineral Securities Partnership, and other things, to be able

01:36 to effectively channel investment in places where it matters so that we can effectively

01:41 compete.

01:42 For us, of course, the secret sauce is the private sector.

01:45 We're never going to match, and we shouldn't match, China dollar for dollar when it comes

01:49 to state investment.

01:50 Our job is to be a catalyst of, support for, private sector investment.

01:56 And as we do that, I think there's no question that most countries would prefer to work with

02:00 us.

02:01 However, the other side of this is when you see, exactly as you said, examples of coercion

02:05 being exercised, using economic leverage that China has to get countries to do things that

02:09 it wants geopolitically.

02:10 A good example of that was Lithuania a few years ago.

02:15 And when Lithuania took steps in terms of its relationship with Taiwan that China didn't

02:19 like, China tried to squeeze Lithuania.

02:21 We came in.

02:22 We worked with EXIM to generate about $600 million in financing as an alternative to

02:27 the money that Beijing was pulling out or threatening to pull out.

02:32 We had a defense procurement agreement, the DOD put forward, that was very helpful as

02:36 well in going to the Lithuanians.

02:39 Commerce helped support and move supply chains away from the PRC.

02:45 And we mobilized posts around the Indo-Pacific to help Lithuania find new markets for the

02:50 markets that were being taken away when China was trying to exercise its leverage.

02:53 So I think there's actually a pretty good model there, a good model actually in the

02:57 way Australia responded to economic coercion some years ago from China that we can build

03:02 on.

03:03 And we really welcome working with you to make sure that not only do we have the tools,

03:06 but the tools are adequately financed so that we can come in and create the kind of resiliency.

03:11 Last thing I'd mention is the European Union has also gotten into the game on this in a

03:15 big way.

03:16 They have important legislation so that if states are on the receiving end of economic

03:20 coercion, the EU can come in and support them.

03:24 Well, again, we'd like to work with you on that.

03:26 So if there are specific things that you would need that we could be helpful with, I'd like

03:29 to know.

03:30 One quick question.

03:31 There's probably not enough time, but obviously we've all been intrigued by some of the things

03:37 I've read, at least about a potential agreement with Saudi Arabia.

03:42 Could you give us some sort of overview of where you are in those negotiations and where

03:47 you hope to be?

03:49 So we've been working – and this goes back well before October 7th – working with Saudi

03:55 Arabia and with Israel to pursue normalization between the two countries.

03:58 This would be a game changer.

03:59 It would be the first time that Israel has normalized relations with the largest Arab

04:06 and Muslim country in the world in terms of its significance.

04:11 And it would reshape the region and well beyond.

04:16 We have pursued the work to try to get that agreement.

04:19 It requires two things.

04:20 It requires first some understandings and agreements between the United States and Saudi

04:23 Arabia on security, on nuclear energy, and on defense cooperation.

04:31 Those agreements in principle are very close to being able to be concluded.

04:36 Now, of course, we will come to Congress with them when they're ready to be reviewed,

04:42 but we could be really weeks away from being able to conclude them.

04:46 However, in order for normalization to proceed, Saudi Arabia has made very clear that even

04:50 with the agreements between us completed, they have to have two things.

04:54 They have to have calm in Gaza and they have to have a credible pathway to a Palestinian

04:58 state.

04:59 So we, of course, are working on both.

05:01 We want to see both.

05:03 Whether a government in Israel in this moment is able to engage on that basis, I don't

05:11 know.

05:12 What I do know is until now, this has been a hypothetical or a theoretical question for

05:17 Israel.

05:19 Assuming we complete the agreements between the United States and Saudi Arabia, that hypothetical

05:23 or theoretical question becomes a real question that they will have to answer one way or another.

05:28 Thank you very much.

05:29 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

‘This Would Be A Game Changer’: Blinken Touts Deal To Normalize Israel-Saudi Relations

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