#Politics Op-Ed: King Abdullah leaves big shoes to fill The passing away of Saudi King Abdullah -- a highly revered national leader and a regional heavyweight -- is a mournful loss for people across the Arab world and beyond. Almost a decade in power in the worlds second-largest Arab nation, King Abdullah left his successors fine legacies to move the country forward to play bigger roles in regional and international affairs. At home, King Abdullah was widely seen as a liberal-minded leader in a conservative nation and the main force behind a string of unprecedented reforms to improve the peoples livelihood and grant them broader freedom, particularly greater freedom for women. On a broader scale, with King Abdullah at the helm, the oil-rich Saudi Arabia has emerged in the recent decade not just as a competent player in the global economy, but also a major peace anchor in the Arab world. The late king himself had made long-time efforts to promote inter-faith dialogue and maintain national and regional stability. Under his leadership, Saudi Arabia had acted as a broker of peace in a range of regional issues concerning Yemen, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon. The Arab Peace Initiative, brought up by Abdullah as then Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia in 2002 and commonly referred to as the Abdullah plan, attempts to normalize relations between the entire Arab region and Israel. King Abdullah left a tangible legacy that can still point the way toward peace in the Middle East, said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a statement on Friday. Yet,there are still piles of unfinished businesses left over and daunting challenges lying ahead, as sectarian conflicts keep flaring up, threats of the Islamic State (IS) looms large and anti-Muslim sentiment emerges in the West following the terrorist attack on the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo attack. During his reign, King Abdullah had maintained a close bond with China, which was the first country he visited since he ascended to the throne in 2005. He was also the first Saudi king to visit the Asian country since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1990. Following King Abdullahs landmark trip to China in 2006, which saw the two countries signed a raft of energy cooperation pacts, bilateral ties have embarked on a fast track of development, and cooperation have significantly thrived and expanded. After the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in southwest China, King Abdullah, known for his generous humanitarian and developmental support for people across the Arab region and wider world, offered a donation worth 60 million U.S. dollars on behalf of his country to the quake-hit areas. It was the largest donation to the earthquake victims from a single foreign country. Hailing King Abdullah as a great leader of Saudi Arabia and a good friend of the Chinese people, Hua Chunying, spokeswoman of Chinese foreign ministry,said China is deeply grieved about the passing away of the monarch, who enjoys high prestige at home and abroad. Noting that King Abdullah always attached importance to pushing forward relations with China, Hua stressed that he had made great contributions in deepening bilateral friendship and cooperation.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 12:59:34 +0000
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