China says Saudi crown prince skipped Olympics for 'scheduling reasons'

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman skipped the Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony despite being on the guestlist because of "scheduling reasons", China's foreign ministry said Tuesday.

Prince Mohammed, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, was among dozens of world leaders who had been expected to attend the ceremony in Beijing last week, according to state media.

But the Saudi royal did not show up for the event, nor did he attend a lavish banquet hosted on Saturday by Chinese President Xi Jinping, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters at a regular press conference on Tuesday.

Zhao said Prince Mohammed "wished the Beijing Winter Olympics success" but could not make it "due to scheduling reasons".

Beijing has been keen to shore up international support for the Games despite multiple countries including the United States and Australia declaring diplomatic boycotts over China's human rights record.

Dozens of dignitaries -- many from autocratic nations friendly to Beijing -- made appearances at the opening ceremony on Friday and met for lunch the following day at the first major face-to-face diplomatic soiree thrown by Xi since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.