This week on Sinica, Kaiser welcomes Tuvia Gering of Israel's Institute of National Security Studies, where he focuses on China's relations with Israel and other countries of the Middle East. Tuvia breaks down the agreement to normalize relations between Riyadh and Tehran, which Beijing brokered during secret talks that were only revealed, along with the fruit they bore, on March 10. 6:05 – How was China able to broker the Saudi-Iran normalization? 17:00 – Notable commitments from Saudi, Iran, and China 25:01 – China’s non-energy interests in and engagement with the Middle East 29:03 – Reactions from world capitals 39:28 – Saudi’s balancing act between U.S. security partnership and engagement with China 49:52 – Implications for China as a mediator in Ukraine and other international conflict zones 52:44 – Overview of China-Israel relations A complete transcript of this podcast is available at TheChinaProject.com. Recommendations: Tuvia:  King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard on YouTube Kaiser: The Venture of Islam by Marshall G. S. Hodgson Mentioned: Tuvia's Discourse Power Substack The China-Global South Podcast Tuvia’s interview with retired PLA Colonel Zhou Bo See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.