‘If we can solve the political trust issue, we can solve the trade issues between Türkiye and China’

Yang Chen, Executive Director of the Center for Turkish Studies at Shanghai University, spoke to Harici. Saying that relations between Türkiye and China are very open to improvement, Yang stated that ‘if the political trust issue is resolved, the goal of strategic comprehensive partnership will be achieved’.

Yang Chen, an Associate Professor and Executive Director in the Center of Turkish Studies, Institute of Global Studies at Shanghai University, is one of the Chinese academics who closely follows Türkiye and the Middle East.

Yang, who was a visiting researcher at Asian Studies Center of Boğaziçi University between 2013 and 2015, has focused his academic work on Türkiye. He has published articles on Türkiye’s national development.

Assoc. Prof. Yang Chen answered our questions about the current dynamics and future potential of Turkey-China relations.

Türkiye was one of the first countries to support China’s Belt and Road initiative. It is also a key player in the Central Corridor. Türkiye expects more investment from China, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi signaled his willingness to do so during his visit to Ankara. However, despite setting goals in diplomatic talks, Türkiye-China relations have still not been elevated from ‘strategic cooperation’ to ‘strategic comprehensive partnership’. The desired trade volume between the two countries has not been reached and the trade deficit in favor of China is one of the biggest concerns for Türkiye. What are the reasons for this situation? Why have relations between the two countries not deepened further?

As Türkiye and China, we raised our relations to the level of strategic cooperation in 2010. One of the goals of this relationship was to increase the bilateral trade volume to 50 billion dollars. When we look at the statistics of 2022, the trade volume is around 38.55 billion dollars. Even though the target has not been fully achieved, if you compare this figure in 2022 with 20 years ago or 30 years ago, you will see that the bilateral trade volume has actually increased considerably.

Of course, there is also the problem of the trade deficit. Of course, to solve this problem, first of all, China should invest more in Türkiye. The other aspect is related to the Turkish side. You know, China’s products have increased considerably in the last decade. For example textile products. If Türkiye uses more advanced technology and produces better quality products, then we can import more products. Another issue is the popularity of the products. Yes, there are very famous Turkish brands, but these brands are not recognized in China. So people are not familiar with these brands. So every year we should invite more Turkish companies to participate in the China import fair in Shanghai and other places, so that more Chinese will be familiar with these brands and that will be useful to close the gap.

The third, and also very important, reason why relations have not developed sufficiently is political trust. This issue will certainly affect relations between China and Türkiye today. Separatist East Turkestan organizations are operating in Türkiye. The Turkish government has made promises to us on this issue. So fulfillment of these promises is a very important issue for China.

I think if we can solve this political trust issue, we can solve many other issues.

You know the Chinese government’s Belt and Road Initiative investments: We are investing in many countries from Afghanistan to Pakistan in the context of the Belt and Road.  So why can’t there be a higher level of engagement between Türkiye and China? Maybe we need to do some things to address this sensitive issue. Trust is a very sensitive issue.

For example, we can directly increase communication between political parties. We can also increase the relations between local governments. I think it is important to increase communication and cooperation between people, between big cities like Istanbul and Shanghai.

Of course, another area of cooperation is defense. The Turkish army has grown a lot in the last decade. Why shouldn’t there be cooperation between the Chinese army and the Turkish army? In fact, there was military cooperation between the two countries until 2010. But after 2010, the dialog between the militaries decreased.

Another issue is to improve the image of Türkiye in China or China in Türkiye.

This means that people need to communicate more directly. So relations between ambassadors, relations between academics, tourism are the main areas to increase this interaction. So I’m talking about both reducing the trade deficit and at the same time increasing heart-to-heart communication.

You mentioned the problem of political trust and Türkiye’s failure to fulfill its promises on the Uyghur issue. What are these promises? Are you optimistic about the future of relations between China and Türkiye?

The government promised us to stop the activities of East Turkestan organizations operating in Türkiye, which China considers terrorist organizations. Now, even though the government makes harsh statements against them, we see that these organizations continue to operate and carry out actions.

But of course I am always optimistic about the future of relations. Think of it this way, in Türkiye in 2009, the then prime minister accused China of genocide. This was the biggest incident between the two countries and the lowest point of China-Türkiye relations. But even after that, in 2010, the two countries signed a strategic cooperation agreement.

Why should I be pessimistic? No, we are always optimistic.

We are in a period when the United States is withdrawing from the Middle East. Türkiye and China have common interests against US interests in the region. We, China and Türkiye have common interests.

So as the US withdraws from the Middle East, will China fill the gap? How do you assess Türkiye’s role in the Middle East?

On the contrary, China advocates that the countries of the region should be decisive in their own destiny, that the countries of the region should be the main actors in the issues that concern the region.

Türkiye’s role in the Middle East is of course very important from the Chinese point of view. Türkiye is a regional power in the Middle East. Türkiye is even a global power. I mean, Türkiye plays a key role in solving many issues in the region. The Palestinian issue, the Yemeni issue, the Libyan issue and other issues in the region… It is more difficult for non-regional powers like the US, Russia, China to solve these problems. So Türkiye’s role in the region is very important.

Especially now that the US is withdrawing from the Middle East, the role of the countries in the region is even more important. Who will control the region again? Of course, the countries of the Middle East should control it themselves, and I think they have this opportunity. In Türkiye, they can decide the path to Egypt.

It is said that Türkiye is pursuing a policy of balance between Asia and the West. How do you evaluate this balance policy?

I think Türkiye’s position is correct. It is balancing between Russia and Ukraine and between the US and China. I think this is a wise policy. And you know China’s foreign policy; it never forces any country to choose. China does not pursue an alliance policy. Even between Russia and China there is no alliance. We defend an independent foreign policy. We should formulate our foreign policy in line with our own national interests, not under the pressure of other countries. That is why I find Türkiye’s position correct.