金融时报:沙特王室上演“权力的游戏”

沙特王室上演“权力的游戏”

近日，沙特王室和政府高层掀起一场反腐风暴，至少11名沙特阿拉伯王子、数十名高级官员和商界知名人士被逮捕。这场反腐风暴背后的关键角色，是沙特王储穆罕默德，他的真实目的何在？

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

flamboyant[flæm'bɔɪənt] 艳丽的, 炫耀的

renown[rɪ'naʊn] 名望, 声誉

hawkish['hɔːkɪʃ] 鹰派的, 强硬派的

plausible['plɔːzəbl] 似真实的

intricate['ɪntrɪkət] 复杂的,错综的

febrile['fiːbraɪl] 发烧的, 热病的

abdicate['æbdɪkeɪt] 退位，辞职

Mohammed bin Salman aims to win Saudi game of thrones（628 words）

By David Gardner

Mohammed bin Salman, the young crown prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, took another huge stride towards absolute power this weekend, with a round-up of leading figures in the kingdom's political and business elite that includes 11 princes and more than three dozen current and former ministers.

The arrests, announced late Saturday by Al Arabiya, the Saudi-owned pan-Arab news channel, came only hours after King Salman set up an anti-corruption commission with wide powers, headed by the 32-year-old crown prince. If this is an Arabian game of thrones, the headstrong young prince, who seeks to embody the pent-up aspirations of a people two-thirds of whom are under 30, has left no one in doubt he means to win.

Among those caught in the crown prince's net are Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the flamboyant multi-billionaire tycoon, and Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, minister and former chief of Saudi Arabia's powerful National Guard. Also reportedly under arrest is Sheikh Waleed al-Ibrahim, brother-in-law of the late King Fahd and media baron, whose MBC group owns Al Arabiya.

Prince Alwaleed, who owns or has held stakes in Twitter and Apple, Citigroup and News Corp, as well as in hotels and theme parks, satellite TV and newspapers, is a man who can move markets. Nephew to Saudi kings, he has used his global renown as an investor to take occasional but well-aimed potshots at Saudi policy — such as the now abandoned policy of ramping up oil output to preserve market share at a cost of further falls in price.

Including such a well-known figure in this clampdown will raise questions about the investment climate in Saudi Arabia, as Prince Mohammed pursues his much-trumpeted Vision 2030. This reform programme aims to wean the kingdom off fast-depleting hydrocarbon revenue with income from private investment and the creation of what he hopes will become the world's biggest sovereign wealth fund, built around the planned part-privatisation of Saudi Aramco, the state oil company. The goals of MbS, as the crown prince is known, include quadrupling non-oil revenue by 2020 from just over $40bn in 2015, before nearly doubling it again by 2030.

Sceptics question if such targets are deliverable, dependent as they are on ending the social contract between the House of Saud and its subjects that trades cradle-to-grave welfare for political quiescence. But there is no doubting the crown prince's ambition.

Since King Salman in 2015 gave him unprecedented control over economic strategy and oil policy, as well as defence and an increasingly hawkish foreign policy, MbS has been heard to complain about privileged insiders and officials milking the kingdom of billions of dollars through rigged bids and corrupt contracts. “No one who got involved in a corruption case will escape, regardless if he was a minister or a prince,” he said in a TV interview this year.

Yet this weekend's breathtaking swoop looks profoundly political in its aims. Ever since MbS deposed then crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef — his cousin and veteran interior minister — in a June palace coup, Saudi-watchers judged it was only a matter of time before he went after an equally powerful cousin: Miteb bin Abdullah.

Prince Miteb, 65 and son of the late King Abdullah, was not only seen as a plausible potential rival for the throne. The well-equipped National Guard he (and his father before him) headed is another army MbS had to neutralise after he took control of interior ministry forces this summer. The Guard, built around the kingdom's intricate tribal networks, is probably the last autonomous power centre standing between the crown prince and the throne. The weekend's momentous events will inevitably revive the febrile speculation that King Salman, 81, is preparing to abdicate in MbS's favour. All eyes are still on the throne.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.According to the article, Mohammed bin Salman is ____.

A.the heir apparent to the throne of Saudi Arabia.

B.the newly elected Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia.

C.a plausible potential rival to the King Abdullah.

D.the son and potential successor of King Abdullah.

答案(1)

2.Which of the following persons is believed to be able to move markets?

A.Prince Miteb bin Abdullah.

B.Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.

C.Sheikh Waleed al-Ibrahim.

D.Prince Mohammed bin Nayef.

答案(2)

3.What is the aim of the Vision 2030 programme?

A.To ramp up oil output and preserve market share in order to prevent further falls in price and increase hydrocarbon revenues.

B.To help transform Saudi Arabia into a newly industrializing country providing a high quality of life to all its citizens.

C.To stop privileged insiders and officials from milking the kingdom of billions of dollars through rigged bids and corrupt contracts.

D.To reduce dependency on hydrocarbon revenues with income from private investment and sovereign wealth fund.

答案(3)

4.What is the real purpose of the corruption purge in this weekend according to the author?

A.To soften the political resistance to its efforts to boost income from private investment.

B.To stop multi-billionaire tycoons in Saudi Arabia from intervene in political affair.

C.To eradicate Mohammed bin Salman's potential rivals for the throne of Saudi Arabia.

D.To make Saudi Arabia a corruption free country and raise money for Vision 2030.

答案(4)

* * *

(1)答案：A.the heir apparent to the throne of Saudi Arabia.

解释：穆罕默德·本·萨勒曼是沙特阿拉伯年轻的储君和实际的统治者。

(2)答案：B.Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.

解释：阿尔瓦利德王子拥有或持有推特、苹果、花旗集团、新闻集团，以及一些酒店、主题公园、卫星电视和报纸的股份，他是能够撼动市场的人。

(3)答案：D.To reduce dependency on hydrocarbon revenues with income from private investment and sovereign wealth fund.

解释：远景2030计划致力于通过增加私人投资收入和建立世界上最大的主权财富基金，帮助这个国家摆脱对油气收入的依赖。

(4)答案：C.To eradicate Mohammed bin Salman's potential rivals for the throne of Saudi Arabia.

解释：但本周末惊人的反腐扫荡背后有着深刻的政治目的。