Shui Qing Qawah
Academic researcher from the University of Foreign Studies in Beijing
The roots of Chinese -Bahraini ties date back to more than two thousand years, when Bahrain was an important station on the old Silk Road, and the acquaintance of the two peoples through the trade of goods. Historical documents indicate that Arab merchants were swallowing the bay pearls with ceramics and silk from China, thus constituting what is known as the “Pearl Road”. The remembrance of the Gulf pearls was mentioned in a Chinese book on customs and anecdotes in the Arab countries and the Persians from the era of the Tang Dynasty “in the middle of the ninth century AD”, and this is the oldest indirect signal to Bahrain in the ancient Chinese records.
As for the modern era, since the establishment of Chinese -Bahraini diplomatic relations 36 years ago, and thanks to the strategic vision of the leadership of the two countries, bilateral relations have evolved smoothly, mutual trust has been strengthened, and high -level communication between the two countries intensified, which culminates in meeting the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping, and His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa at the end of 2022, on the sidelines of the Chinese -Arab summit, The Chinese -Gulf Summit in Riyadh, and the historical visit of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa for China last year, where the leaders of the two countries reached a large -scale consensus on establishing a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, which indicates that their relations reach a new stage in which political confidence deepens, on the basis of equality, common benefit and mutual respect. Therefore, these relations can be considered a model of relations between countries that differ in terms of their size, systems and cultures.
The Chinese side appreciates the wisdom of Bahraini policy in its endeavor to strengthen its relations with China, in light of the current regional and international geopolitical complications, which indicates the sovereign independence of Bahrain and its insightful vision, as it realizes that one of its distant range interests is developing its relations with China, the emerging country with a promising future. China is witnessing unprecedented developmental transformations embodied by the following indicators: After it became the second largest economy in the world in 2010, today it ranks first in foreign trade, and is the largest commercial partner for approximately 120 countries, and the largest commercial partner for Arab countries as a group, as it ranks first in the value of industrial production, and is about 30% of global industrial production, crossing America, Japan and Germany combined according to the latest statistics issued by United Nations Statistics Division. This is in addition to that it is the most powerful country in building infrastructure facilities such as roads, bridges, ports, airports, railway networks, residential projects, etc., but it is one of the leading countries in many areas of high technology such as renewable energies, strategic metal production, high -speed trains, electrical cars and lithium batteries, drones, shipbuilding, fifth and sixth generations, and sixth generations, Quantitative computing, super computers, artificial intelligence and others. It is worth noting that last year, Chinese cars occupied the lead in the Bahraini Motor market, and this is nothing but a new example of China’s rapid and technological progress.
In order for the image to be more clear, I like to quote what Professor Graham Alison, the famous political writer, with the theory of “The trap of Thusididis”, in an article published in the magazine “The National Interest” last year, stated that he was chairing a team of experts from Harvard University, to prepare a report on the real situation of American -Chinese competition before the American presidential elections in 2020. The report that dealt with competition between the two countries in five basic areas: economics, technology, military power, diplomacy and ideology, concluded that the result in each of the five areas is identical: “China that could not be seen at the beginning of the century in the rear vision mirror is now going alongside us, or in some cases, progressing on us.”
I talked with some details about all of this, not to show off the Chinese achievements, but rather to confirm that there are promising opportunities for the Chinese Bahraini cooperation in the present and the future, and that China will remain an important partner for Bahrain in its efforts seeking to achieve the strategic “Vision 2030”.
There is no doubt that there are some problems that prevent the development of the Chinese -Chinese and Chinese Arab relations in general, and the most prominent of these problems may be represented in the following question: How do Arabs and Chinese view each other, with self -eye, or with an eye of others? I ask this question; Because mutual knowledge between the two sides is still surrounded by a degree of ambiguity and misunderstanding. It is affected by distorted pictures or stereotypes about the Arabs and Chinese in the media, Western political speeches and somewhat Hollywood films. Thus, our knowledge of the other was formed through the lens of others, specifically the West, which is used to “represents the East on his behalf,” as Edward Said said.
Therefore, it became obligatory for the Chinese and the Arabs to gain knowledge of each other through self -endoscope, rather than the lens of others. We desperately need to know the intellectual exploration in all fields of China and the Arab countries, leadership, elites and people, and their tireless efforts to achieve happiness and well -being, their collective or individual dreams, their success experiences or their failure lessons, and the many tales attractive to the Chinese or Arab people in this era. In addition to the opportunities and areas of cooperation on the basis of mutual benefit between the two peoples.
Finally, I see that it is important that the Chinese Bahraini relations be comprehensive, so that they are in line with the nature of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, so they are not limited to the political, economic and commercial aspects, but should be overcome to include other areas. China and Bahrain have extensive cooperation capabilities in many emerging areas that are compatible with development strategies for both countries. Among them, mention the following areas, for example:
1. Digital economy, financial and informational technology. Bahrain is currently seeking a center for financial technology in the Middle East, as it has launched a “priority for cloud” policy to attract international financial institutions, and is seeking to establish a regional data center. Chinese companies can participate in areas such as payment systems, cloud computing, storing huge data, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, which are areas where China has abundant experiences and modern technology.
2. Renewable energy and the green economy. It is known that Bahrain is working to diversify its economy and reduce dependence on oil, so China, a leader in solar energy and wind energy, can support Bahrain’s transformation towards the use of clean energy. Chinese electric cars are also popular in the Bahraini market, which opens the door for further cooperation in manufacturing batteries and shipping structure.
3. Logistics and communication services. Bahrain has a strategic location linking the Gulf, North Africa and the Arab world, and China can participate in infrastructure projects such as ports and smart logistics services.
4. Tourism and cultural and educational exchange: Bahrain now provides a visa upon access to Chinese citizens, while China recently announced the exemption of citizens of all Gulf countries from entry visa to China, in addition to opening two direct airlines between China and Bahrain in the past year, and this undoubtedly opened the horizons for bilateral cooperation in the field of tourism. The Confucius Institute at the University of Bahrain can also be made an important platform for cultural exchange.
