Original Title: “ Yemen Diplomats’ Training in China : Looking Forward to China's Participation in Post-war Reconstruction and Building a “Belt and Road”
Yemeni diplomats participated in the sixth Arab Officials Seminar of the CARC
From March 9 to March 17, 30 diplomats from the Republic of Yemen came to China to participate in the sixth Arab Officials Seminar organized by CARC. The main contents of this training and exchanges are China's foreign policy, ethnic and religious policies, reform and opening up experience, the China-Arab joint construction of the “Belt and Road initiative and China- Yemen capacity cooperation.
“Aden, the temporary capital of Yemen, is not only a picturesque and beautiful coastal city, but also a national economic center.” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Yemen, Awsan Abdullah Ahmed Al-Aud, and Economic Counsellor of Yemen’s Embassy in Germany, Adel Hamoud Hamoud Al-Sheikh said with a sense of pride in an interview with the Pengpai news (www.thepaper.cn).
Counsellor Adler delivered a speech at the closing ceremony of the seminar.
From the Maritime Silk Road to the “Belt and Road”
As a Counsellor for Economic Affairs, Adel is familiar with China, which has experienced rapid economic growth in recent years. He had privately traveled to Beijing before, but this time he was impressed by the prominent changes in China after listening to the introduction of the process of reform and opening up in Pudong and visiting the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall, the buildings along the Huangpu River on the Bund. I have also been to New York, but after coming to Shanghai, I found myself prefer to Shanghai. It is a model of open development. The reason why Shanghai and even China's economy can achieve such brilliant achievements in a shorter period than developed countries is closely related to the government's excellent governance and the strong execution force.
In fact, China is also familiar with Aden. It has been an important port of the Maritime Silk Road since ancient times, which was called Adan in the Ming Dynasty. During Zheng He’s traveling to the West, he sent a mission to drive three ships from Sumatra, boost the local economic, and was warmly welcomed by the king. In modern times, Aden is still an important trading node between West Asia and East Africa. The world-famous Mocha coffee beans are also exported through the port of Aden.
Yemeni diplomats took a group photo on the Bund. Photo by Zhaojing
When referring to the status quo in Yemen, Counsellor Adel said that he was born in the capital Sana, but because of the civil war in Yemen, Sana was occupied by the Houthi armed forces, he has not returned to his hometown for four years. Due to the war, the domestic infrastructure in Yemen was seriously damaged. The power stations in many cities were bombed. The electricity and communication of residents were affected to a great extent. Public services such as medical care and education were also paralyzed. At the same time, due to the lack of electricity in the water supply and sewage treatment facilities, Yemen is also facing a shortage of drinking water.
However, according to Xinhua News Agency, as the Yemeni government and Hussein have reached an agreement on the important issues of ceasefire and exchange of prisoners of war under the United Nations in December last year, the situation in Yemen has improved. The ceasefire agreement has undoubtedly brought a glimmer of peace to the war that lasted for four years.
Counsellor Adel also has great confidence in the reconstruction of Yemen after the war and the construction of the “Belt and Road” initiative. He emphasized that China-Yemen cooperation enjoys a long history in various fields such as energy, infrastructure, vocational and technical training, education and medical care. In early 1959, China signed an agreement with North Yemen to build the Yemen-Hetaida Highway. For this purpose, China specially sent a team to Yemen with the purpose of guiding and participating in the construction of the Kangzang Highway. In addition, China also reached a cooperation agreement to build a Sana cotton spinning and dyeing factory, it was the largest industrial project in Yemen and the largest textile mill in the Middle East at that time.
Since 1966, China has begun to send medical team to Yemen，in total 3,500 person-times so far. At the same time, China has also built a number of medical facilities such as the Taz Revolutionary General Hospital and the Sana’s Maternity Hospital. In the late 1980s, the teachers of the Arabic Language Department at SISU in answer to the government’s call and served as translators for Chinese technicians at the Sana Technical School and the Taz Technical School in Yemen. In November 2013, President Hadi visited China and reached again a cooperation agreement with China on infrastructure construction, including the expansion of the port of Aden and the construction of two new power plants with a total installed capacity of 5,000 MW.
Yemeni diplomats took selfies in the old city of Yangzhou. Photo by Zhaojing
Yemen Expects China to Teach Them “How to Fish”
After visiting Shanghai Electric, Zhengtai Electric and other enterprises on the spot, observing the renovation of the old city and the construction of the new city of Yangzhou, Counsellor Adel was deeply touched. He said that in the future, the two countries will enhance the cooperation in the fields like energy, infrastructure, vocational and technical training, education and medical care under the framework of the “Belt and Road” initiative, and continue to promote jointly the post-war reconstruction in Yemen.
Affected by the civil war, many power grids in Yemen have been damaged, so that many infrastructures related to people's livelihood have been unstable and difficult to operate normally. More than 6,000 kilometers of roads in Yemen are in urgent need of refurbishment. Aden Port, Sana’a International Airport and Aden International Airport also schools and hospitals throughout Yemen needed to be rebuilt.
Counsellor Adel pointed out that the Yemen market is vast with a population of nearly 30 million. China’s participation in the post-war reconstruction of Yemen is not only beneficial to the Yemeni people, but also beneficial to the Chinese people. It is better to teach people how to fish rather than give them some fish. If China expands its investment in the future, and export more technical talents and vocational training in the meanwhile, it will not only accelerate the post-war reconstruction of Yemen, but also offer more job opportunities, and promote Yemen’s domestic technology upgrade and achieve sustainable development.
By participating in the seminar, Arab officials have a deeper understanding of China's pioneering experience in the process of reform and opening up, which will help them to enhance the ability of the country governance and international competitiveness. I hope that in the future, the participants can expand to a wide range of practitioners in the fields of economy, infrastructure, energy, medical care and communications, thus promoting the all-round cooperation between China and Arab States and helping to build the “Belt and Road”, said Adler Counselor.
China-Arab Research Center on Reform and Development（CARC）, sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education and the Shanghai Municipal Government, is conducted by Shanghai International Studies University. In the past two years, the center has held six seminars for officials from Arab countries. A total of 167 senior Arab officials participated in the events, actively dialogued to increase trust and dispel doubts. Last year, the CARC also held a special seminar for Syrian officials. On July 10th, 2018, President Xi Jinping delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the eighth ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, “the China-Arab Research Center on Reform and Development that I advocated has operated smoothly and become an ideological platform for exchange of experience in the reform and opening-up, and the country governance. In future, the Center is expected to function more greatly in providing intellectual support for both sides.”