ZCZC
BCN-08
MIDDLE EAST-BRIDGE-CONNECTIVITY
Middle East serves as bridge connecting China with Africa, Europe under
B&R initiative: expert
CAPPADOCIA, Turkey, June 24, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – Middle East serves as a
bridge that connects China with Africa and Europe under the Belt and Road
(B&R) Initiative, a Turkish expert said in a recent interview with Xinhua.
Tugrul Keskin, a Turkish professor from China’s Shanghai University, noted
that China has increased its investment and political involvement in the
Middle East under the B&R initiative.
Keskin told Xinhua at the fourth China and the Middle East Conference,
which concluded on Friday in Cappadocia, that China’s non-interference
diplomacy and focus on economic development have been successful in fostering
good economic and political relations with countries in the region.
The three-day conference brought together more than 40 scholars and
experts from the Middle East and China to discuss China’s deepening
cooperation with the region under the B&R initiative.
The initiative, which China proposed in 2013, aims to build a trade and
infrastructure network linking Asia to Europe and Africa along the trade
routes of the ancient Silk Road.
The major role China has so far played in the Middle East is economic,
with the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) supporting
investments in the region, Keskin said.
Major Middle Eastern countries including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, the
United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait are all members of AIIB,
Keskin noted.
China has also become an increasingly important source of tourists for the
Middle Eastern countries, including Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, which have
offered visa-free or visa-on-arrival treatment for Chinese tourists, the
professor said.
Meanwhile, China has also been strengthening its military cooperation with
Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Oman, Qatar and UAE, while trying to play a mediating
role in the regional conflicts through regional and international
organizations such as the Arab league, Islamic Cooperation Organization and
United Nations.
He mentioned that some opinion polls in Arab countries have reflected a
growing positive view of China in the region, especially among the youths.
With the expansion of the Confucius Institute and increased cooperation in
education, more and more young people in the Middle East are learning Chinese
or go to study in China, he added.
Hasan Ali Karasar, rector of Cappadocia University which is one of the co-
organizers of the conference, told Xinhua that today’s world is no longer
unipolar and Middle Eastern countries are drifting away from the United
States.
“Therefore it is good time (for Middle Eastern countries) to enhance
relations with other major world powers like China,” Karasar said, adding
that his university would add Chinese language and research courses in the
future through cooperation with Chinese universities.
BSS/XINHUA/HR/1055