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Letters

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The United Arab Emirates’ decision to withdraw from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries effective May 1 has an immediate and practical explanation. Hemmed in by production quotas that cap output well below the UAE’s stated ambition of 5 million barrels per day by 2027, and operating in a wartime environment where Strait of Hormuz disruptions have already constrained exports, Abu Dhabi apparently concluded that the timing minimised collateral damage to fellow members while maximising its own strategic flexibility. The UAE’s energy minister said as much directly.
Yet to read the decision as purely commercial would be incomplete. It takes place against a broader reconfiguration of global power that deserves attention.
For decades, the United States benefited from a system in which oil trade, financial flows and security guarantees were tightly linked and denominated in dollars. That arrangement is now under genuine pressure.
Since the freezing of Russian sovereign assets in 2022, many countries have questioned whether dollar-denominated holdings are politically neutral. Central banks have diversified reserves, increased gold holdings and explored alternative settlement mechanisms.
The UAE’s accession to the Brics grouping as a full member in 2024 reflects this wider hedging instinct – one shared across much of the Global South – even as Abu Dhabi has been careful to frame its membership in terms of balanced diplomacy rather than as a break with the West.
The Opec exit fits into this broader picture. Gulf states appear to be increasingly reluctant to be locked into any single framework, whether defined by Washington, Riyadh or the old production-quota architecture. The UAE’s decision to leave Opec was made without consulting Saudi Arabia, and the UAE’s foreign minister rather than its ruler attended a Gulf summit in Jeddah the day the announcement of the decision was made. These are signals worth reading carefully.
What they suggest is not that American influence in the Gulf has collapsed, but that the terms on which it rests are being quietly renegotiated. Dependency and alignment are no longer the same thing, and Gulf states are increasingly drawing that distinction. If Washington responds primarily through military pressure or financial coercion, it risks accelerating the very trend it seeks to contain.
The durability of the dollar-based order rests less on force than on the perception that the international financial system operates by consistent, predictable rules. That perception is what most needs tending.
Martin Cheung Tat-ming, principal researcher, POD Research Institute
What world leaders see in China’s high-speed rail
When world leaders ride China’s high-speed rail, they are doing more than posing for photographs. They are seeing how a vast country has reduced the burden of distance and turned connectivity into an economic asset.
That is why Vietnamese leader To Lam’s choice to travel twice on China’s Fuxing high-speed trains during his visit drew such wide attention. He spent nearly 12 hours on board in total. A high-speed rail journey can reveal more than an official presentation. It shows, in practical terms, how infrastructure can connect labour markets, strengthen supply chains and link regional economies.
To Lam is far from the first foreign dignitary to ride China’s high-speed trains. Russian President Vladimir Putin, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev are among those who have also travelled on China’s high-speed rail during visits to the country. The attraction is understandable: the railway offers a direct view of how China has used infrastructure to bind together a vast territory and support economic integration.
That is why China’s rail network matters – it is not only as a symbol of modernisation but also a tool of development. Over time, it has helped integrate large parts of the country, support industrial growth and spread opportunity beyond the biggest cities. For visitors, especially from the Global South, the lesson is clear: infrastructure is not just concrete and steel; it can reshape how an economy works.
That said, China’s model cannot simply be copied elsewhere. Few countries have the same financial resources, administrative capacity or market size. High-speed rail is expensive, and its long-term value depends on passenger demand, maintenance and coordination with broader development plans.
Even so, the international interest is understandable. At a time when many governments talk about connectivity but struggle to deliver it, China offers a visible example of what sustained public investment and effective planning can achieve. The appeal lies not only in the speed of the trains, but in the governing capacity behind them.
Yundong Geng, Wuhan, China


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Middle East

UAE’s Opec exit reflects a complex world

A commercial vessel is seen off the coast of Dubai on April 20. Photo: AFP

For the US dollar, a subtler shift than a ‘petroyuan’ order is underfoot

China’s President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, in Beijing on April 14. Photo: cnsphoto via Reuters 

Why an era of managed Hormuz disruption wouldn’t bode well for Asia

Illustration: Craig Stephens

People walk past a billboard reading “The Strait of Hormuz remains closed” at Revolution Square in Tehran, Iran on April 22. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS

US-Iran ceasefire can’t paper over fires in the Strait of Hormuz

US forces patrol the Arabian Sea near the Touska on April 20 after firing upon the Iranian-flagged vessel that the United States accused of attempting to violate the US naval blockade of Iranian ports near the Strait of Hormuz. Photo: US Navy/TNS

A satellite image provided by Vantor shows the Natanz nuclear complex near Natanz, Iran on March 7. Photo: AP

Opinion

Readers discuss the UAE’s decision to leave the oil cartel, and a Vietnamese leader’s choice to travel twice on China’s high-speed trains


Readers discuss the UAE’s decision to leave the oil cartel, and a Vietnamese leader’s choice to travel twice on China’s high-speed trains.


.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Readers discuss the UAE’s decision to leave the oil cartel, and a Vietnamese leader’s choice to travel twice on China’s high-speed trains

Readers discuss the UAE’s decision to leave the oil cartel, and a Vietnamese leader’s choice to travel twice on China’s high-speed trains