The missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi believed to be killed on orders of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, aka MBS, by the Turkish Authorities suggests Saudi is following Chinese pattern in eliminating the voices of dissent and voices raised against the ruling authorities.
Though the Saudi prince has vowed to finish radicalism his targets have been quite selective looking at the chain of events that have unfolded in the past few years and arrests of only the most prominent and most influential members of the Royal family, TOI reports.
The sudden disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul suggests he is not only killed but also dissembled according to Turkish authorities.
On one hand, the crown prince has granted quite some freedom especially to women along with bringing some reforms in century’s old land customs, he has also arrested many women’s rights activists and have arrested another 1,500 people as part of a drive to crack down on “misuse” of free speech.
These reforms are similar to Chinese reforms where Crown prince and Chinese President Xi have something quite common between them, that is, using the wide-ranging anti-corruption campaign to eliminate their political opponents and stamping their authority.
But Saudi Arabia cannot act independently like China since it is already dependent on the US and with Trump supporting MBS’s aggressive moves in Gulf, he has only recently made it clear and vowed “severe punishment” if any kingdom’s leaders are linked to Khashoggi’s disappearance.