The Myth of the Inevitable Rise of a Petroyuan

In diplomacy, what’s left unsaid often matters more than what’s said. After Chinese President Xi Jinping met the king of Saudi Arabia in December, both nations issued lengthy readouts extolling the burgeoning Saudi-Sino relationship in “all fields.” But in more than 5,000 words, the statements were silent on the much-hyped idea of using the yuan to pric…