CHINA'S FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST

N. A. VASILYEVA

Doctor of Philosophy

Yu HAN (China)

Graduate student

Saint Petersburg State University

Keywords: China, foreign policy, Middle East, Syrian problem, Russian military operation in Syria

China's political leadership has expressed its intention to significantly expand the scope of cooperation with these countries. The program of action in this direction was outlined in the "Basic Document of the People's Republic of China on Arab Countries" published on January 13, 2016, in which politics, investment, social development, humanitarian cooperation, security, etc. are among the priority areas of the new stage of relations between China and the Middle East states. ¹

It is also fundamentally important that Chinese President Xi Jinping chose the Middle East as the destination for his first foreign visit in 2016. From January 19-23, he visited Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran, opening a new chapter in China-Middle East relations. The visit resulted in 52 documents on cooperation in various fields.² At the same time, the Chinese foreign policy line retains the fundamental principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other states, but at the same time, China's more active participation in resolving acute issues in the Middle East is not excluded.

If you look at it, China went to this all the first decade and a half of the XXI century, when the world was overwhelmed by a wave of terrorist attacks. The PRC also faced the problem of radical manifestations of Uyghur separatism in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region( XUAR), so the Chinese leadership has formed an understanding of the need to take part in actively curbing global terrorist trends. That is why China was not satisfied with the situation when in 2002, at the initiative of Washington, a meeting of the "quartet" on the Middle East was held, in which the United States, the EU, the Russian Federation and the UN participated, and the PRC, being one of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, was actually excluded from political participation in resolving issues in this region. Therefore, to ensure its own security, China needed to adjust its foreign policy in the Middle East. At the same time, in 2002, the Chinese envoy took part for the first time as a mediator in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which was a landmark diplomatic step of the PRC, indicating that China began to really participate in Middle Eastern affairs.

In 2004, the China-Arab Cooperation Forum (CCAC) was established, which included all 22 countries of the League of Arab States (LAS). China has so far covered a number of areas and mechanisms of collective cooperation. In 2010, following the 4th Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum, China and the Arab League issued a joint declaration on "Strategic Relations for All-round Cooperation and Joint Development".

In 2014, Xi Jinping made a speech at a meeting within the framework of the FCC on the priority areas of such cooperation. According to him,

"...it is necessary to build a model of cooperation between China and the Arab League based on the principle of "1+2+3": "1" - the central sector of cooperation is energy; " 2 "- infrastructure construction and trade and investment facilitation are "wings" for strengthening cooperation; "3" - cooperation in high-tech areas (nuclear power, space satellites and new energy sources) as a breakthrough in efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation " ³.

It is worth recalling that shortly after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Egypt became the first country to establish official relations with China. In the period from 1956 to 1990. China has established diplomatic relations with 22 Arab countries. The eight countries in the Middle East - Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Jordan and Sudan - have developed a closer relationship, often referred to as the "comprehensive strategic Partnership", or simply the strategic Partnership. In 2010, Beijing hosted the first round of the strategic dialogue between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). As part of this dialogue, the two sides signed an "Action Plan for 2014-2017"ⁱⁿ 2014.4.

According to Chinese experts, such a form of cooperation as free trade zones (FTA) is the most effective way to strengthen economic ties between countries. In 2004, the People's Republic of China began negotiating an agreement on the construction of an FTA with the GCC, and in 2009 both sides reached an agreement on the terms of mutual trade of the overwhelming majority-97% - of the list of goods offered for sale.

CHINA'S INTERESTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

In past centuries, China's remoteness from the Arab world, both in cultural and religious terms, and in political and economic terms, was reflected even in one of the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad: "Seek knowledge, even if it is in China." The Middle East region does not border China, so security issues in the Middle East did not directly concern the PRC. After World War II, socialist China sought to become a leader of the "third world", which was reflected in the development of relations with the newly independent states of the Middle East, which often provided support to the PRC on many important international issues (for example, on human rights, China's accession to the WTO, the Taiwan problem, etc.). It became an importer of oil, which dramatically increased the importance of the Middle East for this country5.

In recent years, some Middle Eastern extremists and Turkish separatists have colluded with "East Turkestan" terrorists in the XUAR, creating a significant threat to China's national security. Therefore, the Chinese government is committed to fighting the "three forces of evil": terrorism, extremism, and separatism. Peace and stability in the Middle East contribute to the security of Western China.

In 2013, China first put forward the concept of "One Belt and One Road", which combines two other concepts: the" economic belt " of the land Silk Road and ^the Maritime Silk Road6. Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed that the Middle East is not only included in the "One Belt and One Road" program, but also plays the role of a link in it.

According to Chinese Foreign Minister Wan Yi, the two Silk Roads will intersect in the Middle East. China expressed its willingness to share its experience in building a high-speed rail network and developing infrastructure in the region7. It should be noted that in the past years, China's strategy in the Middle East lacked clear definition and planning; the emergence of the "One Belt and One Road" concept eliminated these gaps - the PRC's Middle East strategy will primarily focus on regional economic cooperation and weaken the Arab states ' focus on mastering mainly Western experience.⁸

In 2013, China topped the world's list of the largest oil consumers. In 2015, China's oil consumption was 543 million tons, and the country's dependence on oil imports exceeded 60% for ^the first time9. Now the Middle East countries are China's main suppliers of energy resources. In 2015, oil imports from Arab countries totaled 148 million tons and grew by 8.1% compared to the previous year. The Arab states are China's seventh largest regional partner in terms of trade (after the EU, the United States, ASEAN, Hong Kong, Japan and the Republic of Korea). In turn, China is the second partner of the Arab world in terms of the same indicator, lagging only behind the EU. In 2015, China-Arab trade reached $202.8 billion.¹⁰

The Middle East occupies an important place in the world not only because of its rich deposits and large volumes of oil and gas production, but also because of its geopolitical position. The Arab world is a bridge connecting Europe, one of the largest consumer markets in the world, with East Asia, which, in turn, is the world's largest region for the production of goods for various purposes. Europe is the largest export market for the PRC, so China is highly dependent on the Suez Canal and the Arab trade route. China has been very active in using this channel for many years. In 2012, each

The tenth ship that passed through the canal was Chinese (including Hong Kong ships). Today, 60% of China's exports to Europe go through the Suez Canal ¹¹.

In 2007, China and Egypt reached an agreement to establish a trade and economic cooperation zone in Ain Sokhna, a town 120 km from Cairo. The territory of the Zone, in which the PRC plans to invest from $2.2 billion to $3.4 billion, will be ⁷ thousand square km12. During a visit to Egypt, Xi Jinping told the Arab League Council that the Chinese government will allocate $15 billion in exclusive loans, $10 billion in commercial loans and $10 billion in concessional loans to promote energy cooperation between China and the Middle East. Moreover, China, together with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, plans to create an investment fund with a total capital of $20 billion.¹³ All this will certainly strengthen the strategic economic relations between China and the Arab world.

CHINA'S POSITION ON THE SYRIAN ISSUE...

When the draft resolution on Syria was discussed in the UN Security Council on October 4, 2011, Russia and China jointly vetoed it. Subsequently, in 2012 and 2014, the PRC, together with Russia, used the right of veto on resolutions on the situation in Syria three more times.

If we look at the history of the use of the veto in the UN Security Council, we can see that among the permanent members of the Organization, China has used this right the least number of times. From 1972 to 2000. China has vetoed the Security Council only 3 times: on the occasion of the admission of new members (Bangladesh), on the dispatch of military observers to Guatemala, and on the extension of the mandate of the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPRO) in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.¹⁴ It can be said that the PRC did not take an active part in resolving international issues at all before, especially those that were not directly related to China.

With the advent of the XXI century. China, as its geopolitical and geo-economic power grew, became more actively involved in world politics, clearly formulating its own position. Since 2000, the PRC has vetoed the UN Security Council 6 times, including 4 times in cases related to the Syrian problem. This caused a great resonance both in China itself and in the world community. By the way, despite the fact that the PRC often opposed any resolutions, during the voting, China usually abstained. Why, then, has he vetoed all draft resolutions on Syria? We believe that this was not accidental.

After another vote against the resolution on Syria, China's deputy representative to the UN explained the reasons for this decision. First, the PRC has always been opposed to the position that the Security Council refers any country's internal problems to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Second, China supports resolving the Syrian crisis through political dialogue and believes that at the moment, exerting pressure on the Syrian government and applying sanctions does not help to ease tensions, but on the contrary, can further complicate the situation. Third, China is of the view that if there are differences between different parties on the Syrian issue, then negotiations should continue.¹⁵

As mentioned above, China used its veto power four times in the UN Security Council vote on Syria because it was not only based on the position of protecting the interests of the Syrian people, but also demonstrated its negative attitude to the so-called "responsibility to protect"concept.

In 1994, after the Rwandan genocide, a discussion began on whether the international community had the right to interfere in the affairs of other States for humanitarian purposes. The concept of "responsibility to protect" was first proposed by the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, ¹⁶ and was subsequently applied to Libya in 2011.China believes that it is not appropriate to interfere in the internal affairs of other States and promote regime change under the pretext of assuming responsibility to protect the population. The implementation of the "new interventionism" under the banner of "humanitarian intervention", according to China, contradicts the peaceful international trend. ¹⁷

Given its economic and political interests, Beijing considers it necessary to support the regime of Bashar al-Assad. It should be noted that when China was criticized by the West during the suppression of riots in Tibet in 2008 and on the "Taiwan issue", Damascus gave the Chinese government moral support.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China, in 2011, the volume of bilateral trade with Syria amounted to $2.4 billion, of which $2.2 billion accounted for the export of Chinese goods.¹⁸ Currently, more than 20 Chinese state-owned companies operate in Syria, including PetroChina (oil and gas company), Sinopec (oil and chemical Corporation) and others.

With regard to Syria, Russia and China have a fundamentally common position, which was reflected in the discussion of the Syrian issue in the UN Security Council. In general, if we consider all cases of the use of the right of veto by the PRC in the UN Security Council, we can note that since 2000, China has always used the right of veto together with the Russian Federation. This indicates the presence of

bilateral political coordination of actions on international issues.

At the same time, the PRC certainly wants to play a more significant independent role in the Middle East. On the one hand, China has become more active in using its veto power over a number of UN Security Council draft resolutions, and on the other hand, the PRC is constantly making diplomatic efforts to organize peace talks, in particular, within the framework of the internal inter - Syrian dialogue. This is evidenced by the fact that as early as August 2011, the Chinese government began to establish contacts with the Syrian opposition.

As you know, since February 27, 2016, in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution, a cease-fire regime has been in effect in Syria for some time, and Russia and the United States have begun discussing peaceful ways to resolve the conflict. Under these circumstances, China considered it necessary to have its say in the Syrian settlement. Thus, a delegation of the Syrian opposition was received in Beijing, and then China sent an envoy to this country to promote a political dialogue between the Syrian government and the opposition.¹⁹ According to a Chinese Foreign Ministry official, this diplomat has extensive experience as China's ambassador to Iran and Ethiopia. It is clear that China intends to contribute to promoting peace talks and play a constructive role in resolving the Syrian issue.²⁰ Thus, the PRC positions itself as an active participant in international relations in the Middle East.

...AND ON THE RUSSIAN MILITARY OPERATION IN SYRIA

On September 30, 2015, at the request of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russia began conducting massive air operations in Syria against ISIS. Russia's active actions have changed the balance of power both inside Syria and in the Middle East as a whole. As in many other countries, Moscow's policy in China received a mixed assessment, which can be illustrated by the statements of a number of Chinese experts.

There are two main points of view. Thus, some scholars have condemned the military intervention of the Russian Federation from the standpoint of international law. In their opinion, the concept of "responsibility to protect"has been abused. According to Chinese expert Gu Wei, "... prior to 2008, Russia expressed serious concerns about this concept, but Russian military actions in Georgia did not comply with the UN Security Council mandate, and Russia, in fact, violated the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of an independent sovereign state. " ²¹

It is obvious that the expert in this case "projects" "Russian actions in Georgia" to the actions of the Russian Federation in Syria. Subsequently, in the situation with Ukraine, Russia again applied the concept of "responsibility to protect". Despite the fact that the separation of Crimea from Ukraine is also associated with exactly the same "responsibility", China, taking into account the existence of a strategic partnership with Russia, abstained from voting in the UN Security Council resolution on Crimea ²².

The position of the PRC in this case was determined by the following considerations. China is unhappy with the West's double standards on Kosovo and Crimea, but it cannot fully support Russia's actions. Firstly, because China insists on the principle of "non-interference in internal affairs"; and secondly, because China is extremely concerned that its western provinces, such as XUAR and Tibet, following the example of Crimea, may claim independence. Thus, there is a group of Chinese experts who believe that the Russian military intervention in Syria does not comply with the norms of international law.

Another part of Chinese scholars view this intervention from the point of view of political pragmatism. The Syrian issue is linked to many of Russia's interests, including economic ones, preserving its regional geopolitical status, preventing the spread of terrorist forces, ensuring the security of the Tartus naval base, etc. ²³ According to Chinese experts, Vladimir Putin strategically chose the right moment for military intervention in Syria, moving from "passive defense" to "passive defense". "active attack", thus forcing the United States to adjust its position on Syria and Ukraine ²⁴.

It should be noted that Beijing has always supported the settlement of the Syrian crisis through political dialogue and opposed military intervention in the internal affairs of this country. However, China has not officially expressed any comments about the Russian military actions in Syria. On January 4, 2016, the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the first time explained the position of the PRC on this issue:"...China opposes any foreign interference in its internal affairs... China insists on a political solution to the Syrian issue; it is of the opinion that the Syrian people have the right to decide their own future..."²⁵ But despite official statements that China does not support Russian military intervention in Syria, the Chinese official media has always been loyal to Russia in covering events related to Russian military operations. military anti-terrorist operations.

Chinese representatives have repeatedly stated that the PRC supports the UN as an organization that plays a major role in resolving the Syrian issue. Recently, the Chinese government has provided substantial support to the UN and is seeking to take a more significant position in this organization. So, in 2015, President Xi of the People's Republic of China

Jinping announced that China will create a $1 billion China Peace and Development Fund under the auspices of the United Nations and form a permanent contingent of 8,000 people to participate in UN peacekeeping operations.

* * *

Summing up the above, it should be recalled that for quite a long time, China's foreign policy in the Middle East was built on the basis of traditional Chinese diplomatic principles of "non-interference in the internal affairs" of sovereign states. And although this political line has a specific pragmatic goal - to protect the PRC from interference in its internal affairs, however, in modern conditions, given the significant growth of China's geopolitical and geo-economic power, such a strategy does not make it possible to actively express the Chinese position, in particular, in the Middle East, where the PRC has its own national interests. Therefore, the current leadership of the People's Republic of China has chosen a more active foreign policy, putting forward, in particular, the concept of" One Belt and One Road " in relation to the whole of Eurasia.

As for the Syrian issue, the PRC has its own clear position, which is reflected in the activities of the Chinese delegation to the UN Security Council. Despite the fact that China has not officially supported the Russian military operation in Syria, the Chinese leadership, together with the Russian Federation, is actively looking for a peaceful political settlement of the Syrian problem.

The Middle East has become an important region for the development of Sino-Russian strategic cooperation. As a result, today China and Russia are able to create a reliable mechanism for dialogue on the Middle East issue, which will help strengthen mutual understanding between the two countries and their joint participation in solving not only the Syrian problem, but also other conflict situations in the Middle East.

¹ http://news.xinhuanet.com/2016-01/13/c_1117766388.htm

² Xi Jinping's visit to the Middle East resulted in 52 documents on cooperation / / Beijing Times (in Chinese). 25.01.2016.

³ Xi Jinping's speech at the Ministerial conference of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum (in Chinese) - http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2014/0605/c1024-25109727.html

⁴ China-GCC strategic dialogue on the action Plan for 2014-2017 / / People's Daily (in Chinese). 18.01.2014.

^{Zhou Yimin} 5. After the Arab Spring, adjustment of China's Middle East Policy / / China and the World (in Chinese). 2012. N 9.

⁶ For more information, see: Ostrovsky A.V. Chinese project "Economic belt of the Silk Road" as a path to international economic cooperation / / Asia and Africa Today. 2016. N 2. (Ostrovsky A.V. 2016. Kitaiskiy proekt "Ekonomicheskiy poyas Shelkovogo puti"... // Aziya i Afrika segodnya. N 2) (in Russian)

⁷ Wang Yi gave an exclusive interview to Al Jazeera, answered international key questions (in Chinese) - http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2014/01-10/5720005.shtml

^{U Lay} 8. Formation of the "new Silk Road": a new content in the development of relations between China and the Middle East / / West Asia and Africa (in Chinese). 2014. N 3.

⁹ What does it mean "China has become the largest oil importer" - http://news.cnpc.com.cn/system/2015/05/19/001542111.shtml

¹⁰ Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Sun Aiguo: "One Belt and One Road" will create a new page in Sino-Egyptian and Sino-Arab friendship (in Chinese) - http://eg.china-embassy.org/chn/zxxx/t1361916.htm

^{Mei Xinyu} 11. The significance of the new Silk Road / / Narodny Forum (in Chinese), 2013, No. 35.

¹² The China-Egypt Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone is preparing for a major breakthrough - http://www.cntv.ru/2016/01/21/VIDEoWBYWpFgMFvVYZozX7jI160121.shtml

¹³ Special report: Xi Jinping's speech to the Arab League laid the foundation for a model of Sino-Arab cooperation - http://russian.china.org.cn/international/txt/2016-01/28/content_37685896.htm

¹⁴ Completed UN peacekeeping operations - http://www.un.org/ru/peacekeeping/missions/past/maced.htm

¹⁵ China explains its opposition to UN Security Council resolutions on Syria (in Chinese) - http://news.ifeng.com/a/20140523/40418731_0.shtml

¹⁶ https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obligation_protect

^{Ruan Zunze} 17. Responsiblity to Protect: to Create a Safer world / / Issledovanie mezhdunarodnykh problemov (na kit. yaz.). 2012. N 3.

¹⁸ National bureau of statistics of China - http://data.stats.gov.cn/search.htm?s=%E5%8F%99%E5%88%A9%E4%BA%9A%202011

UN Charter, Responsibility to Protect and the Syrian issue, Issledovanie mezhdunarodnykh problemy (Issledovanie mezhdunarodnykh problemy (na kit. yaz.). 2012. N 2.

²⁰ China appoints special envoy to Syria (in Chinese) - http://news.xinhuanet.com/2016-03/29/c_1118479611.htm

^{Gu Wei} 21. "Responsibility to protect": the position of Russia / / Research of world politics (in Chinese). 2014. N 3.

^{Zhang Xin} 22, Feng Shaolei. Perspektiva ukrainskogo krizisa [The perspective of the Ukrainian crisis]. 2014. N 6.

^{Wu Bingbing.} 23 Evolution of the Middle East policy of Russia (USSR) / / Review of the international strategy of China (in Chinese). 2014. N 7.

^{Bi Khune} 24. Syriac crisis, new regional war and Middle Eastern strategy of Russia / / Review of International Relations (in Chinese), 2016, No. 1.

²⁵ Does China have an inconsistent position on the Syrian issue? Chinese Foreign Ministry clarifies the truth (in Chinese) - http://mil.sohu.com/20160105/n433477217.shtml

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