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Author: Medea Ivaniadze, Junior Researcher at Rondeli Foundation
The digest covers China's political, diplomatic, economic, and other activities in the South Caucasus region and relations between China and the South Caucasus countries. It relies on a wide variety of sources, including the Chinese media. It is worth noting that the Chinese media is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (according to the World Press Freedom Index China is nearly at the bottom of the list and ranks 179th out of 180 countries).
Read full publication: China named as one of priorities in the Georgian government program On February 5, the candidate put by the ruling Georgian Dream party for the post of Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, published a 97-page government program titled "Building a European State". In the foreign policy area, China was emphasized as one of the priorities: "Special attention will be paid to the development of relations within the framework of the declaration of strategic cooperation with China in all priority areas defined by the document, including the deepening of ties in trade, economic, people-to-people, cultural, educational, sectoral and other fields, as well as maintaining the positive agenda of cooperation in international formats and active cooperation between Europe and Asia in terms of increasing the volumes of cargo traffic through Georgia".
RFE/RL publishes an article on Chinese surveillance cameras in Georgia On February 6, journalist Nastasia Arabuli published an article on Radio Liberty's website about the surveillance cameras in Georgia, including the Chinese ones. "Most state-controlled cameras are from two Chinese companies Hikvision and Dahua Technology," the report said. The company Neotech told Radio Liberty that they had installed more than 2000 cameras for state agencies in Tbilisi alone. Reportedly, this company is the official dealer of Chinese Hikvision in Georgia. According to the report, the company's representative, who heads the state sales department, told the media that the state agencies had never expressed doubts about the safety of Chinese-made cameras and the requirements that they put to the companies participating in the tenders are fully met. Reportedly, Tbilisi City Hall uses Hikcentral, a program created in China, for Chinese-made camera maintenance. "70-80% of government agencies are equipped with Chinese surveillance cameras," an IT and surveillance camera specialist who manages three companies selling surveillance systems reportedly told Radio Liberty on condition of anonymity.
European Socialists MP suggests launching another international talks platform, similar to Geneva International Discussions, which would be led by China On February 7, the MP of the European Socialists addressed the candidate for the post of Foreign Minister of Georgia, Ilia Darchiashvili, and presented an idea of launching another international talks platform, similar to Geneva International Discussions, which would be led by China. "I am interested in the Geneva format [Geneva International Discussions]. If we look at the situation and interests, Russia has guaranteed its own interests, it is represented in Georgia, which is 40 kilometres away. The US likes this status quo - it is not very interested in solving this issue. If we solve this issue, they will be on the other side. Don't you think, given that China has become our strategic partner and is unequivocally in favour of the integrity of Georgia, would it not be better to have a second format in parallel with the Geneva format, where China will participate? If China gets involved in the implementation of strategic projects and has more interest in the territory of Georgia, we can use a lot of things, let both formats compete, Geneva and the second format, where China will have the main lead. Let's see which one is better... I think the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should activate it, it should include China in strategic projects and do everything for it," Injia suggested according to Interpressnews.
Xi Jinping "places great emphasis on China-Azerbaijan relation" On February 8, CCP Chairman Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev regarding his re-election. He characterized the China-Azerbaijan relations as "exemplary and stable". "A high-level political trust environment has been established, progress has been made in the joint implementation of the One Belt, One Road initiative, and close mutual cooperation is observed in international relations," Xi wrote according to the Trend report. According to Xi, he places great emphasis on China-Azerbaijan relations and highly values their working and personal friendship. Xi expressed readiness to collaborate with Aliyev to further enhance their bilateral relations and elevate the cooperation to a new level across all domains.
Mutual political trust is deepening, Chinese Premier says to Kobakhidze On February 9, the Premier of China Li Qiang congratulated Irakli Kobakhidze on his appointment as the Prime Minister of Georgia. According to 1TV, Li Qiang wrote that currently the China-Georgia strategic partnership was "gaining positive momentum", mutual political trust was deepening, the Belt and Road cooperation was progressing "steadily, and coordination in international relations was growing closer". He expressed readiness to deepen cooperation between China and Georgia "to facilitate the further development of bilateral ties through joint efforts".
Azerbaijan's statement on Taiwan's elections provides a valuable political support to China, the Chinese Ambassador says In a February 5 interview Chinese Ambassador to Azerbaijan Guo Min, among other things, also discussed China-Azerbaijan relations. She said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan "for the first time issued a statement regarding the elections in the Chinese region of Taiwan. Thus, Azerbaijan confirmed its commitment to the "one China" principle and opposed Taiwan's independence, providing valuable political support to the Chinese side". The Ambassador also said that China and Azerbaijan were actively involved in international cooperation: "Countries take the same or similar positions on major international and regional issues, support close cooperation within the UN, the Non-Aligned Movement, the SCO, and other multilateral mechanisms, effectively defending the common interests of the countries of the 'global south'".
Pashinyan expresses hope to Xi to further expand and deepen relations On February 10, Armradio published Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's congratulatory letters to CCP Chairman Xi Jinping and Premier of China, Li Qiang, on the occasion of the Spring Festival. A letter sent to Xi said that the Armenian government attached great importance to the Armenian-Chinese relations, "considering the development of cooperation with the People's Republic of China… including in regional initiatives among its foreign policy priorities"․ He expressed hope that in the near future, there would be an opportunity to further "expand and deepen the partnering relations achieved during the previous years, including through the activation of high-level visits". Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan also sent a congratulatory letter to Xi Jinping.
Qingdao Port and Baku International Sea Trade Port discussed infrastructure development
A photo from the meeting. Source: Azernews On January 30, Azernews reported that the delegation of Qingdao Port visited Baku International Sea Trade Port CJSC. Reportedly, during the meeting with the staff led by the Deputy General Director of Qingdao Port Xing Dongliang, discussions were held about cooperation in the development of port infrastructure and increasing the volume of cargo transported through Azerbaijan.
Aliyev is confident that the Azerbaijan-China relations will continue to strengthen and expand On February 10, APA published Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's congratulatory letter to CCP Chairman Xi Jinping on the occasion of the Spring Festival. "I express my satisfaction with the upward development of Azerbaijan-China friendly and cooperative relations, and my confidence that our interstate relations will continue to strengthen and expand with our joint efforts," Aliyev wrote to Xi.
China pays attention to Armenia's Crossroads of Peace project On February 1, News.am reported that in response to a question from Armenpress regarding Beijing's position on the Crossroads of Peace project introduced by the Armenian government, the Embassy of China in Armenia had stated: "We pay attention to the Crossroads of Peace project proposed by Armenia and we are ready to support any initiative conducive to peace and development in the region. We are ready to support the countries in strengthening relationships, enhancing mutually beneficial cooperation, and achieving common development".
Xi Jinping received the credentials of Armenian and Azerbaijani Ambassadors On January 30, China Daily reported that CCP Chairman Xi Jinping received the credentials of 42 Ambassadors to China, including the Armenian and Azerbaijani ones.
Trade volume between China and Armenia reaches $1.93 billion, Chinese Ambassador says On February 2, Armenpress reported that the Spring Festival was celebrated at the Chinese Embassy in Armenia, where the Ambassador of China to Armenia Fan Yong said in his speech that the volume of trade between China and Armenia had reached $1.93 billion, reportedly increasing by 23.1% per year. Sergey Manasaryan, a former Armenian Ambassador to China, said that the Armenia-China political dialogue in the format of international organizations had also seen positive development, "brilliantly demonstrating the high level of stable, friendly relations".
Georgian Dream party MP says the "relevant results" of Kobakhidze's visit to China will be visible "very soon" The Chair of the Sector Economy and Economic Policy Committee of the Georgian Parliament David Songulashvili said the country's strategic cooperation with China had provided opportunities for "rapid economic development", Agenda reported on February 1. He also commented on the recent visit of a delegation of the Georgian Dream party led by Irakli Kobakhidze to China, saying "very important" meetings were held there. Songulashvili said that during the Georgian delegation's visit to China issues related to investments, tourism, visa-free travel, and trade relations were discussed in addition to the Middle Corridor. He added that the "relevant results" of the visit would be visible "very soon".
"We started strategic cooperation with China in 2014", former Georgian Ambassador to China says The former Georgian Ambassador to China Davit Aptsiauri commented on Georgia-China strategic partnership, 1TV reported on January 31. "We started strategic cooperation with China even earlier, in 2014, when a memorandum of cooperation with the Chinese government was signed," he said.
Azerbaijani delegation together with the Chinese side discuss the possibilities of creating joint production ventures in Azerbaijan On February 6, Report wrote that a delegation led by First Deputy Economy Minister of Azerbaijan Elnur Aliyev had visited China. The Azerbaijani delegation held a meeting with the management of Chinese enterprises involved in the production of vehicles and got acquainted with the production activities of the factories. Reportedly, at the meetings, the possibilities of creating joint production ventures in Azerbaijan were discussed. Issues of selling Azerbaijani products on the Alibaba electronic trading platform were also discussed at a meeting with the leadership of Alibaba's globalization office.
Armenian and Chinese sides arranged an exhibition in China
A photo from the exhibition. Source: Massispost On February 1, Massispost reported that an exhibition titled "Noah's Land" had opened in Ningbo, China. The project was implemented within the framework of the cooperation agreement signed between Yerevan History Museum, "The Armenian-Chinese Partnership Center" NGO, and Ningbo City of China. The exhibition will last until May 5. |
