Not With Biden But We’ll Strike Deal With Xi Jinping

China Government is busy with investment in the West Asian region and it has so far allocated budget worth $160b in its strategic plan of “One Belt One Road (OBOR)”.

IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK

On Sunday, November 8, 2019, and exactly one year ago during a specialized conference (One Belt-One Road), Professor of China Study from Tehran University Mr. Behzad Shahandeh explained the policies of China, and elaborated the approach of the strategists of the country regarding the significance of ties with China. He revealed important information which says, “The Chinese have invested heavily in Gwadar Port of Pakistan and soon this port will become the second Dubai while currently, hundreds of cranes in this port are active in unloading and uploading and they transfer China’s importing and exporting goods.”

He termed political-economic relations of China and Pakistan very deep and strategic, added, “The Chinese look at Pakistan as a partner and friend for all seasons.” Mr. Shahandeh is a university teacher politically in alignment with Iran’s 12th government (the current government). If the statesmen do not listen to him, so to whom are they to listen?

On the “One Belt One Road Initiative”, Mr. Shahandeh says, “At first this project was not to be the strategic policy of China but suddenly in 2015, the Chinese took it seriously and it has currently turned into Xi Jinping (China’s President)’s main project. In Iran this point should be noticed that China’s GDP is $27 trillion as the figure is very higher than any of this country’s rival especially the U.S. because the current GDP of the U.S. stands at $18 trillion. Although the aggregate GDP and purchasing power in the U.S. is more than China which indicates an intense competition between these two countries for becoming superpower in the world. According to many experts, the Chinese are today the world economic power number one, and unity with them will provide the ground for the Islamic Republic of Iran’s participation with them in the whole region.

China’s economic policies abroad are concentrated in two regions, first in the West Asia and second in African states. That why China has been motivated for investment in Africa is because of the continent’s untapped environmental condition and infrastructural needs. But in the West Asia, China has to take in technology because the number of implemented projects in the infrastructures in this region is incomparable with Africa. Hence, for optimizing the cost-benefit in the oil and telecommunication projects, China can bring in investment and technology and we also provide them with workforce and market.

So these conditions, if are managed properly and not destroyed, will be very useful for us but why the 12th government when it started its job did not respond positively to China raises a question mark that one day the truth behind it will be revealed to the Iranian nation. What seems obvious is that on January 24, 2016, exactly eight days after the nuclear deal (JCPOA) came into effect and when Iran was in a fairly stronger position, albeit propagative, and all countries in the world which were seeking seemingly investment in the Islamic Republic of Iran, China’s President Xi visited Tehran at the invitation of the head of 12th government and during the second term of President Hassan Rouhani. The Chinese President had an important proposal: increasing the industrial, commercial and trade relations with Iran to $600b in ten years, in other words, $60b per year till 2025. But the statesmen focused on the JCPOA and the West and did not care this unique proposal.

There is a reasonable criticism to President Rouhani and one day he should split the reason for snubbing China’s proposal and answer to it.

Even after the first JCPOA or we give discount and accept that China is the second world economic power, if a small portion of that $600b had been invested in Iran by the Chinese, the next sanctions of the U.S. could have been a blow to the Chinese government’s interests. Then could U.S. President Donald Trump dare to tear apart the JCPOA so easily? Today those who voted for President Rouhani for his second term should ask themselves what the reason was for not cooperating with China. If our economy due to the rise in the volume of liquidity needs to rein the balance, and experts believe that arrival of investment is the solution, so why has not this important issue been heeded?

  By: Hamid Reza Naghashian