The Hui Muslim General Ma Bufang was appointed as the first Republic of China ambassador to Saudi Arabia. This was for two reasons. The first reason was largely out of economic necessity, as Saudi Arabia was the largest supplier of oil to the ROC, with Taiwan's state-run Chinese Petroleum Company, importing about 40% of its oil annually from Saudi Arabia.The Saudi Connection Far Eastern Economic Review, 9 July 1982, pp. 28-29
