On June 25, the Iran-China Friendship Association published on its website an exclusive interview with the association's ambassador to Iran, Cong Peiwu, as follows:
1. What is your assessment of China-Iran relations and cooperation between the two countries in various fields? What are China's plans to further strengthen and expand bilateral relations?
With regard to Sino-Iranian relations, I have three initial feelings: one is "long", the second is "broad", and the third is "thick".
"Long" means that China and Iran are both ancient civilizations, and the peoples of the two countries have a long history of exchanges. In the 2nd century B.C., Han envoys arrived in the Anxi Empire, opening up the Silk Road, a communication route from China to ancient Rome via Iran. Since then, the two countries have continued to communicate with each other, starting a friendship that has lasted for more than 2,000 years. China and Iran have not had any conflicts or entanglements in history, only friendly exchanges and cooperation.
"Extensive" means that the cooperation and exchanges between the two countries are covering more and more extensively. In recent years, the trade volume between China and Iran has maintained steady growth. China continues to maintain its position as Iran's largest trading partner and largest export destination. Agriculture, industry, infrastructure construction, culture and education, and local cooperation are booming: China has opened a "green channel" for Iranian citrus, apples, honey and other high-quality agricultural products to be exported to China; The exhibition of Iranian cultural relics was held in Beijing, Shanghai and other places, opening a window for Chinese people to understand Iranian history; Since I took office, I have received visits from four local delegations, and the enthusiasm for cooperation between provinces and municipalities and local governments in Iraq has been high. The two sides have maintained close cooperation in multilateral forums and worked together to send a strong message of the times against unilateralism, bullying and power politics.
"Thick" refers to the fact that since the establishment of diplomatic relations 53 years ago, with the joint efforts of all sectors of China and Iran, the traditional friendship between the two countries has been deepened. President Xi Jinping visited Iran in 2016 and the two countries established a comprehensive strategic partnership. In recent years, the two countries have had close high-level exchanges, strengthened solidarity and cooperation, deepened political mutual trust, and made great progress in China-Iran relations, maintaining a strong momentum of development, opening a new chapter in China-Iran friendship and cooperation.
At present, China-Iran relations are at a critical stage of connecting the past and the future, and China is ready to work with Iran to view China-Iran relations from a strategic perspective and a long-term perspective, grasp the general direction of the development of bilateral relations, solidly promote practical cooperation in various fields, comprehensively deepen coordination and cooperation in regional and international affairs, and make greater contributions to promoting regional and world peace and stability. I am ready to work with friends from all walks of life in Iran to earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, promote the continuous deepening of China-Iran relations, and achieve new results in practical cooperation in various fields.
2. Recently, I read your signed article "Using Tea as a Medium to Discuss China-Iran Friendship". It can be seen that you attach great importance to cultural and people-to-people cooperation and exchanges. Do you have specific plans to further strengthen cultural cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, and to help Iranian and Chinese people better understand each other in order to reduce misunderstandings and "Iranophobia" or "Sinophobia"?
Although I have only been in Iran for a short time, I have deeply felt that the dialogue between Chinese and Iranian civilizations has a long history, the traditional friendship between China and Iran is profound, and I have deeply experienced the beautiful feelings and deep friendship of the Iranian people towards China and the Chinese people.
There is a Chinese proverb, "Hearing is false, seeing is believing". When I set foot in Iran, I was impressed by the prosperity of the streets and the warmth and resilience of the people. Not long ago, I went out of Tehran for the first time and visited Qom, where I visited the prestigious Ayatollamalahi Library and a traditional carpet workshop, which gave me a glimpse of Iran's splendid history and culture.
As you said, some people with ulterior motives do not want to see the good development of China-Iran relations, and strive to create disinformation, exaggerate "Sinophobia" and "Iranophobia", and sow discord between the two countries. There should be more channels for the two peoples to understand each other, and they should go to each other's countries more often to see each other with their own eyes. I am glad that there are many bright spots in people-to-people exchanges between China and Iran, with frequent exchange of visits by delegations in various fields such as culture, youth, sports, education, and journalism, and increasingly close people-to-people exchanges between the two countries in tourism, archaeology, film, and personnel training. Not long ago, the final of the 23rd "Chinese Bridge" International University Student Chinese Competition in Iran was held, and I was deeply impressed by the outstanding language and talent skills of the contestants, as well as their love for the Chinese language. I am glad to see more and more Iranian friends approaching Chinese, learning Chinese, approaching and understanding China, and striving to contribute more wisdom and strength to China-Iran exchanges and cooperation in various fields.
At present, the Chinese people are actively promoting modernization, and Chinese-style modernization not only provides new experience for the vast number of developing countries, but also brings new development opportunities to other countries. In the next step, we will continue to promote cultural cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, continuously enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples, continue to deepen people-to-people ties between China and Iran, and advance the implementation of the Global Civilization Initiative.
3. China and Iran are both members of important multilateral mechanisms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS, and China is one of the supporters of Iran's accession to these two mechanisms. What are the reasons for China's support for Iran's accession to these mechanisms? Why is Iran's position in the SCO and BRICS so important?
At present, the world has entered a new period of turbulence and change, and is undergoing major adjustments, major differentiations, and major restructurings, and increasing uncertain, unstable, and unpredictable factors.
China and Iran are both important developing countries and adhere to true multilateralism. China believes that Iran's accession to the SCO and BRICS will inject new vitality into the two cooperation mechanisms and further strengthen the world's peace and development forces, which is in line with the expectations of the international community and the common interests of emerging market countries and developing countries.
China is ready to work with Iran to uphold the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, strengthen strategic coordination with Iran, give full play to the important role of the SCO and BRICS mechanisms in reforming and improving global governance, promote more fruitful results in institutional cooperation, further enhance the influence and voice of the countries of the "Global South", promote the realization of an equal and orderly multipolar world and inclusive economic globalization, and create a better future for human society.
4. How do you assess the role played by the Iran-China Friendship Association in helping to expand and strengthen the friendly relations between the two countries, and what are your expectations for the friendship associations of the two countries as ambassador?
Over the years, the Iran-China Friendship Association and the Chinese Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries have maintained close cooperation and made positive contributions to promoting the development of bilateral relations and enhancing people-to-people friendship. At the beginning of the pandemic, the two countries' friendship associations jointly recorded a public welfare music video to convey friendship to the two peoples who have joined hands to fight the epidemic, demonstrating the determination of the Chinese and Iranian people to unite and cooperate and help each other to fight the epidemic together. During the Spring Festival in 2022, the Iran-China Friendship Association carefully arranged the light show of the Tehran Freedom Memorial Tower, expressing the Iranian people's Spring Festival wishes to the Chinese people and their support for the Beijing Winter Olympics. These heart-warming gestures are built on the basis of the profound friendship between the Chinese and Iranian peoples and the long-term institutional cooperation between the two countries' friendship associations. At the end of last year, Yang Wanming, president of the Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, led a delegation to visit Iraq and jointly convened the 14 th annual meeting of the China-Iran Friendship Association with the Iran-China Friendship Association, and reached a positive consensus on further close cooperation. At the same time, the Iran-China Friendship Association has actively built bridges for cooperation between the two countries in the fields of local, economic and trade, culture and tourism, and has made unique contributions to promoting practical cooperation between China and Iran.
Our embassy is willing to maintain close cooperation with the Iran-China Friendship Association to continuously enhance the foundation of China-Iran friendship and public opinion, so that the Chinese and Iranian people can connect with each other, and let the people of the two countries move forward hand in hand, so as to help the high-level development of the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership.