By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer

    

Iran and China were cradles of civilization enjoying bilateral ties when the Greeks were beginning to discover civilized life and the Romans were centuries away from culture, while Europeans inhabiting the regions north of the Alps, including the British Isles and the Nordic lands, were no more than barbarians. On the other side of the world North America was almost a barren land of primitive people.

Over a millennium-and-a-half later in 1776 when the 13 New England colonies, peopled by European invaders who decimated the native Amerindians, declared independence from London as the United States of America (USA), Iran was administered by the enlightened statesman Karim Khan Zand and was held in awe by the Ottomans and the Franks, although he never took the title of Shah.

China for its part, was then ruled by the powerful Qianlong Emperor (1735-1796), who enjoyed diplomatic ties with Iran, and although he suppressed Chinese Muslims in fear of the spread of the teachings of Islam, he disdainfully termed the English merchants as barbarians on being requested to grant an island for trading, saying the inventors of gunpowder and paper, do not need Europe.

For a hundred odd years from the mid-19th century Iran might have been weakened by Britain’s subjugation of the Qajars and installation of the rootless Pahlavis, who slavishly put the American yoke around their necks.

In 1979, thanks to the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Iran not only regained independence but has since emerged as the paramount power in the Muslim world with its mastery of science, technology, aerospace, defence, and various other industries.

Similar is the case of China, which after passing through the nightmarish phase of the Opium Wars (1839-42) imposed by Britain and the US and invasion by Japan between the two world wars in the first half of the last century, is now a superpower with its rapid progress in the fields of economy, industry, military, and diplomacy, fully capable of shattering the hegemony of the exploitative Americans.

In view of these undeniable facts, it is but natural for Iran and China to further strengthen their age-old bilateral ties through cooperation in all fields, including the 25-year accord that guarantees the development of the two countries and makes them immune from the extraterritorial sanctions of a fast declining US.

As part of this policy of strategic cooperation, President Hojjat al-Islam Seyyed Ibrahim Raisi and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping on Friday had an hour long telephonic conversation that emphasized the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, including Tehran’s right to peaceful nuclear technology and rejection of the economic terrorism of the US, as well as China’s policy of gradual reunification of the breakaway island of Taiwan, which Washington is trying to use as a military base against Beijing.

Raisi, voicing the Islamic Republic’s firm support for China’s policy toward Taiwan, said: “Support for the One China policy is a definite and principled policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

He said the US interference in the internal affairs of countries is a continuation of Washington’s destructive policy of unilateralism, which is “now turning into a threat to international peace and security.”

Xi, for his part fully supported the policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and said cooperation between the two countries will accelerate the pace of economic-industrial development and is beneficial to regional and international peace.

It is worth noting that the 20-point 25-year accord of cooperation between Iran and China, clearly states:

“Both sides reaffirm their support for the multi-polarization process of the international system and express their readiness to tackle global challenges and create a world filled with peace and stability. The two sides reiterate their commitment to the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter, especially those pertaining to respecting the national sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as non-interference in the internal affairs of countries. They oppose all kinds of use of force or threatening with use of force or imposition of unjust sanctions against other countries as well as all forms and manifestations of terrorism and believe that controversial or acute international issues should be resolved through negotiations and political dialogue.”