On February 15, 2023, Niu Song, a researcher at the Middle East Studies Institute at Shanghai International Studies University, gave an interview to China Newsweek on Iranian President Leahy's visit to China, the full text of which is as follows.
In less than six months, Chinese and Iranian heads of state meet again
At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, Iranian President Leahy paid a state visit to China from February 14 to 16, the first visit of Leahy to China during his term of office.
On the afternoon of Feb. 14, Xi held talks with Leahy at the Great Hall of the People. Xi Jinping pointed out that China and Iran are traditionally friendly, and the relationship between the two countries has withstood the test of various international changes. In the face of the current complex situation of changes in the world, the times and history, China and Iran have supported each other, united and collaborated, joined hands to fight the new crown epidemic, strategic mutual trust has been consolidated, pragmatic cooperation has been steadily promoted to promote common interests, safeguard international justice, and write a new chapter of Sino-Iranian friendship.
Leahy said that the friendship between Iran and China has been tested and strengthened over the years. As two independent and autonomous powers, Iran-China relations are based on the spirit of mutual respect and are sincere strategic partners worthy of mutual trust.
Strengthening cooperation with old friends
The flight to Beijing is the first visit of Leahy to China since he took office as Iranian president in August 2021. But during Leahy's tenure, the Chinese and Iranian heads of state have already had several important interactions.
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Iran and China in 2021, Xi spoke with Leahy and stressed that the relations between the two countries have withstood the test of international changes and their friendship has endured over time. He also said that Iran and China are ancient civilizations and their friendship is like an ancient tree.
In July 2022, Xi and Leahy spoke again, emphasizing the friendly relations between the two countries. In September of the same year, at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Uzbekistan, Xi and Leahy met for the first time and confirmed the common strategic choice of developing bilateral relations.
Less than six months after the last meeting between the Chinese and Iranian heads of state, Leahy was invited to visit China. According to Iranian media reports, Leahy was accompanied by six serving ministers, including the ministers of economy, foreign affairs and agriculture, as well as senior representatives of think tanks and chambers of commerce. It can be seen that the Iranian side attaches great importance to this visit to China.
Before the visit, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Kanani, introducing the visit, said that from the political point of view, President Leahy's visit to China is of importance and special significance and it shows that the relations between the two countries continue to develop in a good political atmosphere.
As a warm-up to the visit, Leahy also published an article in Chinese media titled Old friends are the best partners for future cooperation, saying that he was happy to be invited to visit China at the beginning of the Chinese New Year and the New Year festival. In his opinion, both China and Iran are ancient civilizations that have been vibrant in human history and have strengthened their ties through the ancient Silk Road. Nowadays, the Belt and Road initiative proposed by China has linked the destinies of the two peoples. He also raised high expectations for the visit and the future of Sino-Iranian relations: I hope to witness a leap forward in the strong relations between Iran and China in the new year.
During the meeting with Leahy, Xi said that China has always viewed and developed China-Iran relations from a strategic perspective, and will not waver in developing friendly cooperation with Iran regardless of changes in the international and regional situation, promoting new developments in the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership and playing a positive role for world peace and human progress in the midst of the unprecedented changes of the century.
Xi stressed that China supports the Iranian side in safeguarding national sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and national dignity, supports the Iranian side in resisting unilateralism and bullying, opposes external forces interfering in Iran's internal affairs and undermining Iran's security and stability, and is willing to continue to provide firm mutual support with the Iranian side on issues related to each other's core interests. China is willing to work with Iran to implement the comprehensive cooperation plan between the two countries, deepen practical cooperation in trade, agriculture, industry, infrastructure and other fields, and import more Iranian high-quality agricultural products. China is willing to continue to cooperate with Iran in building the Belt and Road, promoting connectivity and expanding humanities exchanges.
The Iranian side hopes to strengthen contacts with China at all levels, implement the Iran-China comprehensive cooperation plan, deepen pragmatic cooperation in trade, infrastructure and other fields, welcome Chinese enterprises to invest in Iran, and look forward to more Chinese tourists visiting Iran, said Leahy. He also noted that both Iran and China are firmly opposed to unilateralism and hegemonic bullying, and to interference in internal affairs by external forces. The Iranian side firmly supports China in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
After the talks, the two heads of state also witnessed the signing of a number of bilateral cooperation documents in agriculture, trade, tourism, environmental protection, health, disaster relief, culture, sports and other fields.
Economic and trade, security and other multi-wheel drive
Iran was one of the three countries visited by Xi Jinping during his first trip to the Middle East after he assumed the presidency in early 2016. During Xi's first state visit to Iran, the two countries formally established the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership, pushing bilateral relations to a new level.
Niu Song, a researcher at the Institute of Middle East Studies at Shanghai Foreign Studies University, told China Newsweek that in 2012, socialism with Chinese characteristics entered a new era, starting with the 18th Party Congress. The series of new thinking and practices in China's Middle East diplomacy has provided new opportunities for the development of China-Iran relations.
In the international arena, Iran has always supported the one-China principle, while China has always supported Iran in safeguarding its legitimate rights and interests and opposed other countries' interference in Iran's internal affairs and the imposition of unilateral sanctions on Iran.
After China proposed the One Belt, One Road initiative, Iran, as an important transportation hub and trade hub on the Silk Road, became one of the first countries to respond to this initiative.
In March 2021, China and Iran also signed a 25-year comprehensive cooperation agreement, covering key areas of political, strategic and economic cooperation, which is an important milestone in the history of China-Iran relations.
In the field of economic and trade cooperation, bilateral trade between China and Iran maintained positive growth in 2022, with China continuing to remain Iran's top trade partner, largest export destination and second largest source of imports. According to data from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, bilateral trade between China and Iran from January to August 2022 was $11.16 billion, up 19 percent year-on-year.
Niu Song told China Newsweek that it is expected that China and Iran will go deeper and deeper in building the Belt and Road together, especially in infrastructure construction cooperation in the field of interconnection and interoperability, such as railroads, ports, communications, engineering, etc. The two countries have great potential for cooperation.
Niu Song believes that the visit of Leahy will not only promote the accelerated implementation of the 25-year comprehensive cooperation agreement between China and Iran, deepen the cooperation between the two countries in the fields of economy, trade, science and technology, and consolidate the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Iran, but also in the field of security cooperation, Iran will become a member of the SCO as the goal, and better promote regional security cooperation.
Xi also expressed his support for Iran's membership in the SCO during his meeting with Leahy. Xi noted that China is willing to strengthen communication and collaboration with Iran in the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and other multilateral platforms to practice genuine multilateralism and safeguard the common interests of developing countries.
Leahy also said that Iran is willing to strengthen communication with China on international and regional affairs, maintain good cooperation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and other multilateral venues, and jointly safeguard international justice and fairness and maintain peace and security in the region and the world.
SCO is currently the world's largest economic and security cooperation organization, with a total economic volume of $20 trillion, and plays a very important role in the Eurasian region and the world. Last year, the SCO announced the launch of the legal process for the inclusion of Iran as a full member.
It is worth noting that just before Leahy's visit to China, he had signed an order to implement the provisions of the law on Iran's membership in the SCO. The statement, posted on the Iranian president's website, also highlights the promotion of Iran's participation in the Belt and Road Initiative.
No third party targeting
Prior to Leahy's visit to China, Western public opinion had been dominated by the notion that Iran's rapidly developing relations with China and Russia were forced by U.S. sanctions.
Niu Xinchun, director of the Middle East Institute at the China Institute of Modern International Relations, does not agree with this argument, noting that both China-Iran and Iran-Russia relations have their own internal dynamics and logic, as well as their own development laws. In terms of the trade data of Sino-Iranian cooperation in the past decade or so, the overall situation is very stable. The U.S. factor can only be described as a disturbance for Iran-Iraq cooperation. The trade figures between Iran and China have been affected by several large fluctuations, such as the U.S. sanctions against Iran in 2012 and Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement in 2018, which imposed stricter sanctions on Iran.
Compared with former President Rouhani, Leahy has a relatively conservative political orientation, and the conservatives in the Iranian government are themselves distrustful of the West; combined with the external environment today, where the Iranian nuclear talks have reached an impasse and the U.S. has intensified sanctions against Iran, the combination of internal and external reasons makes Iran's willingness to deepen relations and start cooperation with China relatively strong. Niu Xinchun said to China Newsweek.
In Niu Xinchun's view, the steady progress of China-Iran relations is not only based on mutual trust in politics, but also on cooperation in the economic and trade fields. China always hopes to benefit both sides of the cooperation with the help of investment and trade. In the process of cooperation with Middle Eastern countries, China also pursues a balanced policy of not interfering in the internal affairs of any country or intervening in conflicts between countries in the Middle East.
Niuson believes that the steady progress of practical cooperation between Iran and China will promote the common interests of both countries. Iran's looking east is not only a pragmatic choice, but also an inevitable choice for its national development strategy, and the achievements of the Chinese modernization path, as well as Chinese funds and technologies, will play an important role in Iran's modernization development.
At a regular press conference on Feb. 14, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin also said that China and Iran have friendly relations and that the development of friendly and cooperative relations between the two sides is conducive to the well-being of the Chinese and Iranian peoples and to the maintenance and promotion of peace and stability in the Middle East region, without targeting third parties.
Niu Xinchun, on the other hand, pointed out that China plays a role in promoting peace in the Middle East to some extent, and is also proceeding to build a multilateral dialogue platform in the Gulf region. This is very different from the U.S. position of separating friend from foe in the Middle East. But he also said that China and the United States still have more in common than differences in the Middle East, such as regional stability, the fight against terrorism, energy supply and so on.
Niu Song also said that peace in the Middle East is a complex and multifaceted issue, and China is playing a role in the region to persuade peace and promote talks.
Source: China Newsweek
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author or the interviewee and do not represent the position of this research institute)
