Op-Ed Contributors

Historical relations down the ages

By Zhang Xiaodong (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-14 07:52

China and Arab countries have made great progress in communications and cooperation after setting up the China-Arab Cooperation Forum in 2004. Sino-Arab cooperation cannot progress without the support of government departments and NGOs. More importantly, the development of Sino-Arab relations helps meet the realistic demands of the two sides in the fields of politics, economy and national strategy. And that conforms to globalization.

After 9/11, relations between the United States, rather the entire Western world, and Arab countries have undergone a drastic change. Their mutual distrust in political and strategic areas is reflected in media reports. There is cultural and religious hostility on both sides. Worse still, mutual hatred and suspicion rule the minds of people on both sides.

US-Arab relations took a turn for the worse during the George W. Bush administration, when the US government didn't even try to hide its intention of carrying out Western-style democratic reform in the Middle East and changing its traditional political systems.

Many people in the Arab countries do not trust - and feel uncertain and insecure about - the US and its allies. They feel that the Western world is challenging not only their traditional political and economic systems, but also their religion, lifestyle and culture.

Western countries have always felt superior to the Arab world in the fields of politics, economics, culture and even morality. This has prompted the Arab countries to try and get hold of something to fight the West's political and moral offensive - and derive some psychological and cultural solace from it. This is the main reason why many Arab countries, led by Saudi Arabia, have begun to "Look East" and for Sino-Arab ties to have developed rapidly.

China and Arab countries have a long history of friendship that goes back to the Silk Road days. The two treat each other as equals. They help each other in international and regional affairs, too. Since the mid-1950s, China has practiced the "Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence", which advocates mutual respect and consultations on the basis of equality in international cooperation.

China has never imposed its views on other countries despite having achieved an average annual economic growth of 9 percent for almost three decades and becoming a relatively big player on the global stage. China has played a responsible (and indispensable) role in regional and global affairs.

I have been to several major Middle East countries and have had some academic exchanges with scholars in think tanks and research institutions in the Arab states. Though not everyone I've met has agreed with China's Middle East policy, but all the scholars have said that China could play a greater and more positive role in the region.

Since China is the fastest-growing market, it needs a huge amount of and continuous supply of fuel and industrial raw materials. The Middle East is the largest fuel exporter in the world and one of the major exporters of some important chemical raw materials. China needs a long-term and stable energy supplier, while the Arab countries need a long-term and stable energy consumer. So, China and the Arab nations are economically complementary and strategically indispensable to each other.