Dr. Wang Jinyan, associate research fellow and deputy director of the China-Africa Institute, a think tank under the auspices of CASS, considers the prospects for Sino-Arab cooperation on the BRI under the shadow of great-power competition.
This is a translated piece from the World Socialist Studies journal (in Chinese) where her presentation is archived herein for future write-in articles and or links on the Middle East geoeconomics and geopolitical situations.
A 15-minute read.
Excerpts:
"The US has been decreasing its focus and investments in the Middle East, making the region's countries, particularly its allies, less trusting and dependent on Washington. As these countries become more familiar with ours and come to identify themselves 认同 with us, their readiness to "look east" will become more apparent in theory and practice.
“In recent years, Arab countries have increasingly acknowledged and praised China's long-held concepts of "non-interference in internal affairs," "peace through development" “以发展促和平, and "civilizational diversity" 文明多样性; China's development achievements are the envy 羡慕 of the Arab world. Arab nations have reaped huge benefits from the joint development of the BRI with China.
“According to polls in Arab countries, they favor China more than the US [see this newsletter’s introduction]. They hope to deepen cooperation with China and strengthen the exchange of governance experience, which has grown significantly. All of this demonstrates that the reduction in US intervention and investment in the Middle East has created new opportunities for China to develop the BRI in collaboration with Arab countries.
“The US has long regarded China as its primary strategic rival. In recent years, it has used a variety of methods and stepped up its efforts to contain 遏制 and suppress 打压 China's attempts to expand the BRI with Arab nations.
“It has, for example, manufactured and disseminated negative coverage of our BRI, tarnished our international image, increased investment in areas of regional cooperation and development where we have achieved positive results and has not refrained from engaging in vicious competition 恶性竞争. This holds true for high-tech industries like 5G and artificial intelligence, where Arab nations that work with China are under pressure to cut ties and turn to American alternatives instead.
“Last April, Dana Stroul, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, warned Arab nations not to work with China and Russia on security matters because it might jeopardize their sovereignty. Such disruptive actions by the US are likely to have an impact on the cooperation between us and some Arab countries.
“The Arab world's indifference, if not hostility 敌视, toward the US following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict was unexpected. In order to regain their support, the US has increased its focus on the region.
“Nevertheless, the fact that the US is still the most significant extraterritorial power in the Middle East cannot be disputed. Middle Eastern nations are very drawn to its generous financial support, cutting-edge technology, and assistance with weapons and equipment. Washington is making every effort to entice its allies in the Middle East, which will have a certain detrimental effect on the BRI.”
“China requires security guarantees in order to develop the BRI in collaboration with Arab countries…In light of America’s current military withdrawal from the Middle East, China should enhance its security cooperation with the Arab nations”
“In its current stage, the BRI has advanced from "painting in broad strokes" 大写意 to "meticulous brushwork" 工笔画. China's BRI cooperation with the Arab world is expanding and improving in both quality and substance.
“Meanwhile, the US and its Western allies control a variety of means and tools to try to suppress 压制 and break us 和破, and they are likely to continue to smear 抹黑, discredit 诋毁, and constrain 遏制 our development interests and international cooperation. This is part of the ongoing competition between our two countries, which will go on for a very long time.
“At the same time, we must recognize that the trend toward economic globalization cannot be stopped. The era in which America dominated global politics and economic development is over.
“In particular, when it comes to the BRI with Arab countries, we should not overestimate the US's appeal to the Middle East, nor should we underestimate the destructive power it wields over the region.
“In the future, China can promote cooperation with Arab countries to achieve high-quality development in the following areas, focusing on key priorities, delicately refining our approach 精雕细琢, and jointly creating a brilliant painting with meticulous brushwork:”
1. Increase governance exchanges with Arab nations and encourage further advancements in political relations
“The Western system of government has long had an impact on the majority of Arab nations. However, the reality of some countries has shown to be incompatible with the Western model of governance, leading to severe governance difficulties and even serious political unrest.
“Whether on bilateral or multilateral events, numerous Arab dignitaries have expressed their willingness to intensify the exchange of governance experience with China and to learn from our system of governance.
“Both now and in the future, China and Arab nations will have to deal with traditional and non-traditional security concerns, including terrorism, pandemics, food shortages, climate change, and data breaches. Furthermore, we face challenges in grassroots governance such as poverty alleviation and rural revitalization.
“China should continue to strengthen governance exchanges with Arab countries, engage in bilateral and multilateral governance cooperation, improve policy communication and political friendship, and improve its political relations.”
2. Increase economic cooperation with the Arab countries and put the Global Development Initiative (GDI) into action
“First, focus on industrial security together...Long-term risks pose difficulties for the safe and stable operation of industrial chains and supply chains. China and the Arab nations both face these issues, which could aggravate further. Through exchanges and joint research, China and the Arab nations can jointly identify the chokepoints, bottlenecks, and breaking points of industrial chains and supply chains, as well as how to address them.
“Second, China and the US compete fiercely in the high-tech sector in the Arab world today and will continue to do so in the future. Relevant Chinese institutions and businesses should hold in-depth discussions with their Arab counterparts about the best ways to collaborate in these sectors and then put that cooperation into action.
“Third, by further optimizing the construction of industrial parks, we can assist Arab countries in improving their overall level of industrialization and create new avenues for bilateral trade and investment growth.
“Finally, China can try to collaborate with Gulf sovereign funds, establish special funds for Sino-Arab infrastructure construction and production capacity cooperation, use Gulf capital markets to issue stocks and infrastructure bonds, and actively introduce third parties to jointly participate in financing, among other things.”
3. Promote the Global Security Initiative (GSI) in the Arab world
“The global peace deficit, security deficit, trust deficit, and governance deficit [aka "The Four Deficits" 四大赤字, a Xi formulation] have all increased in recent years, as have the security challenges confronting human society.
“In this context, General Secretary Xi Jinping solemnly proposed the Global Security Initiative (GSI) in his keynote speech at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022, offering Chinese solutions to global security governance challenges and promoting global security and coexistence. The Middle East has one of the world's most serious security deficits, making it critical to promote the GSI in the region.
“On the one hand, China requires security guarantees 安全保障 in order to develop the BRI in collaboration with Arab countries. Most key sectors (e.g., energy, infrastructure) in which China and Arab countries collaborate involve large investments, long project life cycles, and a slow return on investment, and are strongly affected by the regional security environment.
“On the other hand, Arab countries have long relied heavily on Western countries in terms of security, and especially the US "security umbrella." In light of America’s current military withdrawal from the Middle East, China should enhance its security cooperation with Arab nations to increase the scope and depth of Sino-Arab cooperation.
“In terms of specific measures, we can first moderately increase our efforts to promote peace in hotspot issues, thereby demonstrating our role as a major power [大国担当, another Xi formulation]. In recent years, China has put forward Chinese initiatives and solutions to a number of regional hotspot issues and governance problems, and our objective and impartial stance has earned the respect and trust of regional countries.
“In the future, we can continue to explore the establishment of bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms with the Arab side, increase our participation in Arab affairs, and play a larger role in promoting Middle East security and stability.
Furthermore, we should continue to hold the Middle East Security Forum [the second was held in September 2022] and other frameworks to jointly explore with regional countries security mechanisms and effective paths. They should meet the actual needs of the region on the basis of the principle of "Middle East-owned and Middle East-led" [another].”
4. Encourage people-to-people exchanges with Arab countries, as well as heart-to-heart interactions between Chinese and Arab populations.
“Our country is far and away from the Arab world, and there are significant differences in language, culture, customs, and habits, and people on both sides do not know one another well enough.
“The US and the West have been maligning China's reputation and tarnishing our image for a very long time. As a result, there are many misconceptions and preconceptions about China among the Arab public.
“China should strengthen humanities exchanges with Arab countries in a variety of ways in the future to improve mutual understanding and knowledge at multiple levels. The primary methods are to expand the scope of educational cooperation and to send foreign students to and from as many Arab countries as possible;
“increase exchanges between academic institutions, media, think tanks, and other platforms, and institutionalize visiting scholar exchanges between institutions on both sides; expand the number of high-quality translations of novels, scientific research, film, and TV shows;
“hold Sino-Arab civilization dialogue seminars and Sino-Arab cultural festivals on a regular basis within the framework of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF) to lay a solid foundation for the BRI in the hearts and minds of the people 夯实“一带一路”的民心基础.”
5. Give international, regional, and multilateral platforms and mechanisms their due consideration in order to improve the general state of China-Arab relations
“The Arab League will assume a more significant role in China's collaborative efforts with Arab countries to develop the BRI as consciousness of Arab countries' solidarity and cooperation grows.
“In the future, the two sides will continue to develop practical cooperation under the CASCF framework in accordance with the established goals and pace, in order to serve the common interests of the Chinese and Arab peoples.
“It should be noted that some Arab countries are also members of other international organizations or forums that are friendly to China. African Arab countries, for example, are also members of the African Union and collaborate with China through the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC)...China should also fully utilize these institutions and mechanisms to serve Sino-Arab cooperation.”