China-Arab Relations: Historic and Mutually Beneficial

Overall, China’s relationship with the Arab world is quite good. Commercially and politically – there is a great deal of synergy – many common interests.

Digging deeper, the issue becomes more complex, revealing and interesting. First, there is the issue of geography: the People’s Republic of China borders several Arab nations.

Most people around the world don’t know that China borders Afghanistan. Now, before you add a comment telling me that I am incorrect, Afghanistan borders China at the eastern end of the Wakhan Corridor – it’s the only pass between China and Afghanistan. The pass is just south of China’s long border with Tajikstan.

Next, the relationship is inextricably bound by history and culture; not only has China traded with the Muslim world for over a thousand years, China has its own Muslim population and even Chinese-Muslim historical heroes, such as Zheng He.

Finally, there is the modern strategic and commercial relationship. Trade between China and Arab states surged to $107.4 billion in 2009 from $36.4 billion in 2004. China is now the largest exporter to the Middle East – overtaking the US.

As I wrote in an earlier column, Arab businessmen dominate commerce in the Chinese trading city, Yiwu.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that China literally neighbours the Muslim world!

China borders Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan among others. China borders Pakistan at the Khunjerab Pass, pronounced in Mandarin Chinese as “hongqilafu shankou.” It’s the world’s highest paved border crossing and the highest point on the Karakoram Highway. In fact, since 2006 there has been a daily service between Kashghar in China and Gilgit in Pakistan.

Let’s take a closer look at China-Pakistan relations for a moment. Relations between China and Pakistan began in the early 1950s; Pakistan was the first Muslim nation to recognise China. Pakistan also helped China become a member of the United Nations in 1971 and has been a key bridge between China and the Muslim world. Pakistan also played a key role in the lead-up to President Nixon’s groundbreaking visit to China in 1972; Henry Kissinger visited China in advance of President Nixon via Pakistan.

Fast forward to today. China is working with Pakistan on a number of important infrastructure projects. Joint ventures between Pakistan and China are producing JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft and Al-Khalid Tank’s, among others.

In Afghanistan, “virtually everything comes from China,” according to a recent report from the Associated Press.

“The sparkling 10-story glass and brick Jamhuriat Hospital rises in the midst of Afghanistan’s war-torn capital. Beijing gave $25 million and the Chinese workers to build it.”

As Nato fights, China works to build commercial ties to one of its Muslim border nations.

In 2007, China became Afghanistan’s largest foreign investor when it won a $3.5 billion contract to develop copper mines southeast of Kabul.

To summarise, China’s relationship with the Arab/Muslim world is quite good yet more complex than most people would imagine. China shares land borders with Pakistan, Afghanistan and others and has a rich and mutually beneficial commercial and strategic relationship with many Muslim countries.

But there is one issue which makes the relationship “complex”: Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Xinjiang is one piece of the very rich heritage of Islam in China.

China has had formal contact with Islam since the year 650, when Sa’as ibn Abi Waqqas (maternal uncle of the prophet PBUH) was sent as an official envoy to Emperor Gaozong during Caliph Uthman’s era.

Historians also point to evidence of Muslim merchants visiting China as far back as the Tang Dynasty. Arab and Persian merchants formed Muslim communities in well-established port cities such as Guangzhou, Quanzhou and Hangzhou. Islam is China reached new heights during the Mongol Yuan Dynasty.

Today, there are many Mosques in China and a large Muslim population. The Hui people, one of China’s classified 56 ethnic minorities are descendants of Silk Road travelers and Han Chinese. The Hui resemble Han Chinese yet practice Islam. They can be found all throughout Northern China.

Whereas the Hui have more in common ethnically with Han Chinese, Uyghur’s, a Turkic ethnic group living in Xinjiang have more in common ethnically with their Central Asian neighbours.

Xinjiang means “new frontier” in Chinese; it is home to a number of ethnic groups, including Uyghur, Han, Kazakh, Hui, Kyrgyz and Mongol.

China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Regions has made relations with the Muslim world more complex. Groups such as the East Turkestan Liberation Organisation, labeled as a terrorist group by the Chinese Government have used violence as main tactic in their goal of independence.

In July 2009, a series of violent clashes erupted between Uyghurs and Chinese state police resulting in the death of 197.

With China’s economic boom, commercial and strategic relations between China and the Arab/Muslim world have taken on added importance. China’s increased need for oil and its exporting of quality, low-cost goods translates into win-win for both sides. In fact, some of China’s first foreign relations after Liberation in 1949 were with Arab states Egypt, Syria, Algeria, Iraq and Morocco.

Today, China’s positive relations with the Arab League signals an optimistic and beneficial long-term friendship. Last November, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited the Arab League’s headquarters in Cairo to promote friendly China-Arab League cooperation. China has diplomatic ties with all 22 members of the Arab League.

In May of this year, Premier Wen called for even deeper cooperation between China and Arab states at the fourth Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum held in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin.

After meeting with China’s President Hu Jintao, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa expressed that China is “a strategic and cooperative partner.”

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