Tag: Turkey-China Relations

Chinese Islamic cultural pageant kicks off in Turkey

Chinese dancers perform a Muslim dance during the opening ceremony of “2012 China-Turkey Islamic Cultural Exhibition and Performances” in Istanbul, Turkey, on Aug. 31, 2012. (Xinhua/Ma Yan)

ISTANBUL, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) — Over 500 Chinese and Turkish government officials and Muslim representatives on Friday attended here the opening ceremony of the Chinese Islamic cultural pageant, which will last eight days.

The event, part of the celebrations to mark the China-Turkey Cultural Year, is held to introduce China’s Islamic history and unique Muslim culture to Turkey.

Wang Zuoan, Director of Chinese State Administration of Religious Affairs, said at the opening ceremony that the exposition, the first of its kind between the two countries, will help deepen mutual understanding and enhance the cooperation between Chinese and Turkish Muslims.

Nowadays, Wang said, Islam is getting more and more popular in China as Muslims’ religion belief and custom are fully respected. The Islam also plays an active role in promoting economy and culture, he said.

For his part, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said that it is a very important opportunity for the two countries to enhance cooperation and introduce Chinese Muslims’ life, culture and belief to the Turkish people.

“The relations between Turkey and China showed many positive developments throughout history,” he said.

“On one hand, we wish to convey the Islamic civilization in China to our public and, on the other hand, we wish to jointly work for the religious education and religious affairs of Muslims in China. When you look at the bilateral relations from a cultural perspective, you can see that there is high hope to develop our relations,” Bozdag said, adding that Turkey will carry out a series of Islamic cultural programs in China next year to enhance its relations with China.

During the exposition, Chinese Muslims will exhibit Chinese Islamic culture, Quran chanting, a symposium on China-Turkey Islamic exchanges, as well as Islamic singing and dancing shows.

via Chinese Islamic cultural pageant kicks off in Turkey – People’s Daily Online.

September 2, 2012
Turkey Inches Closer to Nuclear Cooperation with China

Turkey Inches Closer to Nuclear Cooperation with China

Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 9 Issue: 77

April 18, 2012

By: Saban Kardas

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accompanied by members of his cabinet, paid an official visit to China on April 8-11. The first by a Turkish PM in 27 years, the trip was remarkable in many ways and underlined the parties’ continued determination to deepen their cooperation, despite political differences on some regional issues.

The most spectacular part of the trip was Erdogan’s stopover in Urumchi, the capital of China’s Xinjiang autonomous region (Anadolu Ajansi, April 9). Since Erdogan’s vocal criticism of China over its brutal crackdown of the Uyghur demonstrations in the summer of 2009, Sino-Turkish relations have been transformed significantly. Turkey ceased to advocate the Uyghur issue in public forums, while the Chinese officials also allowed increasing interactions between Xinjiang and Turkey. In particular, China enables such interactions in order to give the message to Turkish public opinion that it respects the rights of the Uyghur people. Overall, the parties are careful to turn the Uyghur factor into an element of cooperation rather than a factor of tension in the bilateral relationship.

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping’s visit to Turkey earlier this year underscored this mutual understanding to focus on areas of common interest (EDM, March 1). During his trip to Beijing and Shanghai, Erdogan held fruitful discussions with Chinese leaders to further cooperation in the economic and political realm, while also signing several agreements to enhance cultural exchanges. Granted, the relationship remains driven by economic interests.

In previous conversations, the parties indicated their determination to improve economic ties. Especially the Turkish side is keen to have a serious discussion on this issue, as Ankara currently incurs a major foreign trade deficit to Beijing. As the parties aim to increase the current bilateral trade volume from $25 billion to $100 billion by 2020, it will be important for Turkey to manage this process in a healthy manner so that its domestic market is not flooded with Chinese consumer goods (haberturk.com, April 10).

The two countries rank as the fastest growing economies in the world, further raising expectations that the parties should cooperate in the economic realm. In order to compensate for the liability caused by the trade imbalance, Turkey hopes to see a greater volume of Chinese investments flowing into its economy. During its trip to Shanghai, the Turkish delegation met with executives of Chinese investment companies to discuss the details of furthering economic cooperation (Anadolu Ajansi, April 11).

Erdogan went to great lengths to explain the “success” of the Turkish economy in the midst of the global financial crisis and how Ankara introduced structural reforms to turn the country into a safe destination for investments. He also underlined Turkey’s proximity and access to the European markets as an additional incentive to lure Chinese investments. Reportedly, the cabinet ministers and businessmen accompanying Erdogan signed several agreements with their Chinese counterparts, especially investments in Turkey’s energy sector and infrastructure projects. The government has reportedly received positive news about Chinese interest in its major infrastructure projects. Especially, Turkey wants to see greater Chinese investment – both in terms of financing and undertaking construction work – as it seeks to construct a high-speed train railway throughout the country (Aksam, April 13).

Indeed, the two countries also have been recognized as leading players in the worldwide construction sector. While China owns the largest number of international contracting firms, Turkey comes in second on the same list (Sabah, April 6). With the growing visibility of China in this field, concerns have been raised about competition between the two countries. Given China’s advantages, especially in terms of credit opportunities, Turkey is careful to avoid competition and instead works to woo China into cooperation.

A tangible outcome of the trip was the signing of a declaration on cooperation in peaceful nuclear technology (Anadolu Ajansi, April 9). This agreement follows Turkey’s earlier cooperation efforts with Russia, Japan and South Korea in this field. Such an agreement usually is a segue into negotiations on the construction of a nuclear power plant. So far, Turkey granted a tender for its first-ever nuclear power plant to be built in the Mediterranean coastal town of Mersin-Akkuyu to Russia. The second plant is planned to be constructed in the Black Sea province of Sinop. Earlier, the talks Turkey launched with South Korea pertaining to the second plant failed, partly because Seoul was reluctant to give the state guarantees for the investments. As Turkey initiated negotiations with Japan on the same project, the Fukushima disaster again led to the interruption, with the Japanese side giving unclear signals as to their willingness to resume the talks.

Following Erdogan’s trip, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz announced that Turkey would soon hold talks with Japan, South Korea and China on the construction of the country’s second nuclear power plant (Anadolu Ajansi, April 13). Ankara’s approach in nuclear talks is significant in many ways. On the one hand, it seems that Turkey might be hoping to benefit from competition between the three Asian powers and receive a better deal for the second plant. In his remarks, Yildiz clearly underlined that Ankara would pick up the best offer between the three countries. On the other hand, this development also indicates Turkey’s anxiousness to conclude a deal, after having invested political capital in the idea of constructing a second plant. Given its soaring energy needs in recent years, which are met largely by imported hydrocarbons, Turkey has attached a major value to nuclear power plants in its energy strategy.

However, this rather hasty and pragmatic approach also raises questions. The first plant was contracted to Russia, although Moscow has a mixed international reputation. Now, the pursuit of an agreement with China, which has not established itself as a major international player in this field, makes one wonder about the coherence, sustainability and reliability of Turkey’s nuclear energy plans. Occasionally, the government comes under criticism over the safety of the plants to be constructed with this strategy (www.turkey.setimes.com, November 11, 2011). In an obvious attempt to allay such questions, Yildiz also maintained that the plants will be built in line with robust standards, set by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the EU. Even if this will be the case, it remains to be seen if Turkey can genuinely develop peaceful nuclear technology by building partnerships with different players.

https://jamestown.org/program/turkey-inches-closer-to-nuclear-cooperation-with-china/

April 18, 2012
China Eyes Greater Share of Turkey’s Rising Infrastructure Investments, Including Construction of a Nuclear Plant

China Eyes Greater Share of Turkey’s Rising Infrastructure Investments, Including Construction of a Nuclear Plant

Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 9 Issue: 43

March 1, 2012

By: Saban Kardas

China’s Vice President Xi Jinping’s visit to Turkey, where he held several meetings with Turkish leaders, has underlined the growing economic ties and diplomatic exchanges between the two countries, despite their failure to develop joint positions on political issues. Xi met Turkey’s president and prime minister, and participated in the Turkey-China Economic and Commercial Cooperation Forum.

A large part of Xi’s contacts pertained to economic cooperation, which is understandable given that the two countries have been the most rapidly growing economies in the world in the wake of the global financial crisis. Their bilateral trade volume reached $24 billion in 2011, while it was only $1 billion at the beginning of the decade. However, the trade balance is tilted dis-proportionally in Turkey’s disfavor. One factor that helps correct this unhealthy picture is the growing Chinese interest in the Turkish economy. Chinese companies have been increasingly undertaking contracting services in Turkey, including plans for the construction of major railway networks. As Turkey plans to initiate other multi-billion dollar infrastructure projects, China is increasingly interested in getting a larger share of this pie. A delegation of businessmen accompanying Xi signed various agreements with their Turkish counterparts pertaining to Turkish exports, financial support by Chinese firms and energy investments, again reflecting the rising volume of Chinese investments in Turkey.

During the visit, it was even mentioned by both parties to raise the bilateral trade volume to $100 billion over the next ten years or so (Anadolu Ajansi, February 23). While setting that target, however, the Turkish side complained about its inability to penetrate the Chinese market and called on China to take some measures that would help reduce the trade imbalance. One particular measure that was agreed upon during the visit would allow the central banks of the two countries to carry out a three-year currency swap agreement, worth $1.6 billion.

Reportedly another item on the agenda was cooperation in peaceful nuclear technology. Following the business forum meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said that Turkey’s Energy Ministry will start a dialogue with its Chinese counterpart on China’s construction of a nuclear power plant in Turkey (Anadolu Ajansi, February 22). In an effort to reduce its heavy dependence on hydrocarbons, as part of its energy strategy documents, Turkey has been planning to build up to three nuclear power plants. Short of possessing genuine technology, it has been seeking actively to develop partnerships with other countries in this field. Turkey has already signed an intergovernmental agreement with Russia pertaining to the first nuclear power plant, and the negotiations are under way with Japan and South Korea for the second one. China too has been very active in building many nuclear plants to meet its energy needs, which have increased due to its fast growing economy, and is now seeking to build power plants abroad.

Though Turkey’s possible partnership with China in nuclear energy might make sense from a diversification point of view, awarding tenders to different countries also raises the question to what extent this will be an efficient strategy from the technology accumulation perspective. Granted, Turkish press maintained that China was ready to undertake the tender for the construction of the power plant through a $20 billion-worth foreign direct investment (Sabah, February 25). If this deal is realized, it will mark the largest single FDI flow into Turkish economy, which would also signify China’s trust in Turkey’s economic performance.

However, the dynamics of Turkish-Chinese economic ties and their reflection in the political realm resemble very much Turkey’s somewhat problematic ties with Russia and Iran. At one level, Turkey’s economic relations with these three powers underscore the inherent shortcomings of Turkey’s growth model. While Turkey is running a huge trade deficit vis-à-vis Russia and Iran due to energy imports, its trade with China also has been similarly problematic, due to the import of consumer goods. Despite record growth rates in recent years, many experts warn that Turkey’s economic miracle is driven by domestic demand rather than exports, and its current account deficit poses a big vulnerability to an economic shock. As part of its commercial strategy of developing multi-dimensional partnerships with neighbors and other rising powers, Turkey has been quite intent on boosting the bilateral trade volume with various nations. However, short of a major restructuring of the underlying dynamics of Turkey’s economy so that it becomes more competitive and gains access to energy resources at reasonable costs, increasing the trade volume with other countries will not help Turkey become a major power house.

At the political level, too, there are similarities between Turkish-Chinese relations and Ankara’s relations with Moscow and Tehran. The growth of its trade volume with Russia and Iran neither helped Ankara forge a common position with these countries on regional issues, nor could it gain from them a more receptive attitude toward its demands in some economic and political issues. With China, too, the expansion of economic ties was partly a product of Ankara’s refrain from raising the thorny issue of the East Turkestan and the plight of the Uighur people. Moreover, as was demonstrated in the case of Beijing’s position on the Syrian regime’s violent suppression of the popular uprising, Turkey and China have not converged politically. The obvious political differences have not prevented Ankara from pursuing cooperation and enhanced diplomatic exchanges with Beijing.

After Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s harsh reaction to China’s policies in Xinjiang in 2009, which caused a political friction, Turkey increasingly watered down its criticism, which opened the way for bolstering bilateral relations. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s visit to China and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabo’s visit to Ankara in 2010 were such major occasions, and Erdogan is expected to visit China this year. The year 2012 is being celebrated as the Year of Turkey in China, while next year the Year of China will be celebrated in Turkey. It appears that Turkey is determined to maintain a high dose of pragmatism and commercially-driven thinking which have shaped its policy toward China, as well as other rising powers.

https://jamestown.org/program/china-eyes-greater-share-of-turkeys-rising-infrastructure-investments-including-construction-of-a-nuclear-plant/

March 2, 2012
China, Turkey Sidestep Syria Issue to Sign Business Pacts

By BRIAN SPEGELE And JOE PARKINSON

ISTANBUL—China and Turkey set aside differences on how to quell escalating violence in Syria on Tuesday, as Vice President Xi Jinping began the final leg of a diplomatic tour seen as a dress rehearsal for Chinese leadership by overseeing a series of bilateral business deals, including a central bank swap deal to boost trade in local currencies.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul, left, and China’s Vice President Xi Jinping during a welcoming ceremony in Ankara

Mr. Xi, widely presumed to be China’s next top leader, signed the three-year currency-swap pact between Turkey’s central bank and the People’s Bank of China alongside Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul in Ankara on Tuesday.

The two leaders, who signed five other business agreements, didn’t make any public statements before the Chinese vice president headed to Istanbul to meet Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but Turkish officials were expected to relay their growing concerns over the gathering violence in neighboring Syria.

Ankara has repeatedly said the world can’t remain silent in the face of an 11-month revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, which appears to be degenerating into civil war. China, along with Russia, has vetoed two United Nations Security Council resolutions backing Arab League plans seeking an end to the conflict and condemning a crackdown on protests that killed 5,400 in 2011 alone, according to the U.N.

Ankara reacted furiously when Beijing, along with Moscow, vetoed the second resolution earlier this month, proposing a summit on Syria to help coordinate policy outside the Security Council.

As activists reported that Syrian government troops continued to shell restive districts in the opposition stronghold of Homs, killing at least 16 people, official communication from Mr. Xi’s diplomatic visit made no mention of Syria, or the stalling diplomatic attempts to halt the violence.

China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported that Mr. Xi and the Turkish President discussed “regional and international affairs of common concerns,” though neither side initially offered details.

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported that China was interested in investing in Turkish economic projects and that Prime Minister Erdogan had accepted Mr. Xi’s offer to visit Beijing.

The conspicuous silence on developments across the border in Syria disappointed Turkish analysts, who had hoped the meeting of two rising powers with expanding interests in the Middle East, could offer some clue on whether Beijing would soften its objection to intervention to quell the violence amid growing fears that the revolt against the Assad regime is degenerating into civil war.

China in recent weeks has given little indication it would support Western intervention, despite heightened criticism in Turkey, Europe and the U.S. that it was serving as an obstructionist to restoring peace there. Rather, senior Chinese leaders and state-run media have delivered unusually direct defenses of China’s position. China has a strict foreign policy of noninterference in other countries’ internal affairs, which in recent years it has used to block international intervention on humanitarian grounds alone. Additionally, China fears unrest toward authoritarian regimes in the Arab world could spread to Beijing if aided by the West, analysts say.

“Our position hasn’t changed,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei at a news briefing Tuesday. He said China was willing to work with the international community to resolve the crisis in Syria, but said China didn’t welcome external arms or interference in the conflict.

Mr. Hong confirmed China had received an invitation to a “Friends of Syria” meeting backed by Western powers and the Arab League set for Friday in Tunis, but didn’t say whether China would participate. Russia confirmed on Tuesday that it wouldn’t participate in the meeting because the Syrian government wouldn’t be represented, stoking fears that the group would struggle to gain legitimacy.

Mr. Xi, who will become China’s Communist Party chief in a once-a-decade leadership transition that begins late this year, will have to forge a consensus on sensitive foreign-policy issues among powerful political forces in China, including state-owned enterprises and the military.

Many questions remain about his approach to policy, though he is viewed by U.S. officials and other political analysts as a business-friendly politician, perhaps less driven by communist ideology than his predecessors.

Nonetheless, analysts said Mr. Xi wouldn’t be able stray significantly from the prevailing party line on Syria and other Middle East issues, lest he risk upstaging China’s current leadership, including President Hu Jintao.

Chinese leaders, including Premier Wen Jiabao, have said China isn’t defending the Assad regime. They argue the U.N. Security Council resolution calling for Mr. Assad’s resignation ran afoul with the U.N. charter. In addition to vetoing the Security Council’s resolution, China last week was one among just 12 U.N. member states to oppose a nonbinding resolution condemning the Syrian government.

Earlier on Turkey on Tuesday Mr. Xi was confronted with one sensitive domestic issue, as a group of protesters gathered outside his Ankara hotel to demonstrate against Beijing’s crackdown against Turkic-speaking Uighurs in China’s northwestern Xinjiang province, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency. Violence between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese, China’s dominant ethnic group, left nearly 200 dead in western China in 2009 in the worst riots in the country’s far west in more than a decade.

Turkey’s Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek earlier said that Ankara respects China’s “sovereignty and territorial unity” in an apparent reference to the issue.

via China, Turkey Sidestep Syria Issue to Sign Business Pacts – WSJ.com.

February 22, 2012
Turkey-China Relations

Global Insider: Turkey-China Relations

By The Editors | 12 Dec 2011

Turkey and China signed a deal last month for the construction of an underground natural gas storage facility at Lake Tuz in Turkey. In an email interview, Selcuk Colakoglu, an associate professor at the International Strategic Research Institution (USAK) in Ankara, Turkey, discussed relations between Turkey and China.

WPR: What is the nature of trade relations between Turkey and China, including the main sectors of trade and direct investment?

Selcuk Colakoglu: One of the main motivations of Ankara’s rapprochement with Beijing in the late-1990s was to gain economic benefits for Turkish businessmen in China. However, the increasing trade volume with China caused huge trade imbalances for Turkey. According to 2010 figures, China has maintained a huge trade surplus — in the amount of $15 billion — with Turkey, largely stemming from consumer goods. Turkey wants to compensate for the trade imbalance through an increase in Chinese investment in Turkey, inbound tourism from China, joint ventures in third countries and a greater opening of the Chinese market to Turkish products. During Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao’s visit to Turkey in October 2010, Ankara and Beijing declared their intention to raise the volume of trade to $50 billion by 2015 and to $100 billion by 2020 under a new “strategic partnership.”

WPR: How big a role does energy cooperation play in bilateral relations, and is deeper cooperation likely?

Colakoglu: There is competition rather than cooperation in the energy sector between Turkey and China. Both are rapidly developing countries that are hungry for the energy resources of the Caspian Basin and the Middle East. Turkey also wants to be an energy terminal between Caspian and Middle Eastern oil and gas producers on one hand and European consumers on the other. The only opportunity for cooperation in the energy sector is through Turkish-Chinese joint ventures.

WPR: What are the main areas of cooperation between Turkey and China outside of trade, and what are the obstacles to closer ties?

Colakoglu: Turkey has a very weak presence in East Asia. In this respect, China has arisen as a potential strategic partner in East Asia by supporting Turkey’s efforts to gain entry to the region. China would provide an economic and strategic gateway to China itself as well as East Asia and contribute foreign direct investment to Turkey. In addition, Turkish-Chinese firms would engage in joint ventures in third countries. For China, Turkey’s direct links to West Asia, Africa and Europe make it the only potential dealer for Chinese goods on the “contemporary Silk Road.” If the Eurasian transportation link comes into existence, the Turkish-Chinese partnership would gain a more strategic form in the near future.

However, there are two potential threats to much deeper Turkish-Chinese cooperation. The first is that the continuing trade imbalances make it difficult to sustain bilateral trade in the long term. The second is the Uighur issue. Although China’s current policy of integrating the Uighurs, a Turkic-Muslim ethnic group, into the political and economic system is a priority for Beijing, the problem is in no way settled yet. Any kind of ethnic violence in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, such as a repeat of the Urumqi riots in 2009, could strain relations between Turkey and China.

via Trend Lines | Global Insider: Turkey-China Relations.

December 13, 2011