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Johnson to Visit Saudi Arabia, UAE on Wednesday

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson records an address at Downing Street after he chaired an emergency Cobra meeting to discuss the UK response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in London, Britain February 24, 2022. (Reuters)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson records an address at Downing Street after he chaired an emergency Cobra meeting to discuss the UK response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in London, Britain February 24, 2022. (Reuters)
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Johnson to Visit Saudi Arabia, UAE on Wednesday

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson records an address at Downing Street after he chaired an emergency Cobra meeting to discuss the UK response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in London, Britain February 24, 2022. (Reuters)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson records an address at Downing Street after he chaired an emergency Cobra meeting to discuss the UK response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in London, Britain February 24, 2022. (Reuters)

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to kick off a visit to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday.

Johnson will head to Abu Dhabi first, then Riyadh. He is set to meet the Saudi and Emirati leaderships.

"The leaders are expected to discuss efforts to improve energy security and reduce volatility in energy and food prices, which is affecting businesses and consumers in the UK as well as regional stability in the Middle East. In addition to potential further measures to increase oil production, Johnson is focused on diversifying the UK’s energy supply and working with international partners to ramp up renewables," the PM's office said in a statement.

"The UK is building an international coalition to deal with the new reality we face. The world must wean itself off Russian hydrocarbons and starve Putin's addiction to oil and gas," Johnson said in a statement before the meetings.

"Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are key international partners in that effort. We will work with them to ensure regional security, support the humanitarian relief effort and stabilize global energy markets for the longer term."

"The brutal and unprovoked assault President Putin has unleashed on Ukraine will have far-reaching consequences for the world, well beyond Europe’s borders," he added.

The Prime Minister will also discuss shared strategic priorities with the leaders of the UAE and Saudi Arabia, including the situation in Iran and Yemen, increased security cooperation, trade and investment and supporting human rights and civil society.

Saudi Arabia is the third largest supplier of diesel to the UK, but the Kingdom also committed to net zero by 2060 ahead of COP26 and is investing heavily in green technology at home and in the UK.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia are the UK’s two largest economic partners in the Middle East, with bilateral trade worth £12.2bn and £10.4bn in 2020 respectively. The UK is preparing for negotiations on a trade deal with the wider Gulf Cooperation Council, which will boost our trade and investment with the whole region.

As part of today’s visit, Saudi Arabia’s alfanar group will confirm a new £1 billion investment in the Lighthouse Green Fuels Project in Teesside, aiming to be the first company to produce sustainable aviation fuel from waste at scale in the UK. The project is expected to create more than 700 jobs during construction starting next year and around 240 full-time jobs once it is fully operational. Aviation fuel generated by the plant has the potential to produce 80 percent less greenhouse gas than its fossil fuel equivalent, said Johnson's office.

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Taiwan’s Representative to Saudi Arabia: 260,000 Pagers Exported in Two Years

Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Taiwan’s Representative to Saudi Arabia: 260,000 Pagers Exported in Two Years

Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Taiwan is investigating who is responsible for modifying the pagers that were turned into explosives in the hands of the Lebanese people, including members of Hezbollah.

Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang told Asharq Al-Awsat that 260,000 pagers were exported from his country between 2022 and 2024, and 16 percent of them were sent to the United States and Europe.

He expressed his regret that the pagers were planted with explosives that were used in the attack in Lebanon last month, clarifying that the devices were not directly exported from Taiwan to Lebanon.

He explained that the components of the device are made of material that is not liable to explode.

Apollo Gold, the Taiwanese company that exported the pagers between 2022 and 2024, has never received any complaints that its devices have caused harm or exploded.

The attack in Lebanon has raised several questions and they are being probed by authorities in Taiwan, he went on to say.

One thing is for certain, the devices were not harmful in the shape they were exported from the country, stressed Chang.

Asked about whether the attack may harm Taiwan’s economy, he replied that his country’s industry sector has a strong reputation that will be difficult to undermine given the trust it has from clients.

The size of the sector and Taiwan’s investments cannot be measured by a small number of pagers, as they only make up a mere fraction in the country’s trade relations with countries all over the world, he stressed.

Separately, Chang revealed that Taiwan was considering cooperation with Saudi Arabia in the chip industry, saying he was optimistic over the broad potential for cooperation in the technology sector.

There are no limits to the cooperation between them, he added.

Taiwan constantly wants to maintain the relations and discuss opportunities for joint investments, he stated.

Taiwan was among the first countries to leap to cooperate with Saudi Arabia in all fields to help the Kingdom achieve its Vision 2030 that is spearheaded by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Chang said.