Mending fences and building bridges

Spring is here and romance is in the air. Not just for starry-eyed lovers, but for two countries that are happily renewing their acquaintance.

The recent courtship between two of the fastest growing economies in the world, China and Turkey, is moving at a dizzying pace.

The reciprocal visit to the one Vice-President Xi Jinping paid to Ankara and Istanbul in February, Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to China last week was the first by a Turkish prime minister since 1985, and it had profound political and economic significance.

Erdogan's first stop was in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region whose 9 million Uygur people share historic, linguistic and religious links with Turkey. Turkey and China experienced a brief cooling in bilateral relations following the unrest in Urumqi in 2009.

But the Turkish prime minister said he was impressed by the profound changes he observed in Xinjiang and he hopes to further enhance economic exchanges and cooperation with the region.

At the same time he expressed strong disapproval of any separatist activities. Turkey has declared that this region is part of China but also stated that the Uygurs should fully share in the Chinese economic miracle.

The visit unmistakably shows that China and Turkey have both decided to prevent this issue from compromising their mutual relations so they can upgrade the level of bilateral discourse. This clearly suggests a growing confidence and closeness.

On the international political stage the trip represents a confirmation that each country can and will work together. Each, however, will make its presence felt in the international arena, albeit in differing ways.

With Iran, Iraq and Syria on its immediate borders, Turkey is in one of the world's most volatile neighborhoods. It is a rare island of stability reflecting the views of most of its citizens in this very turbulent region.

China adheres to a policy of non-intervention, which goes back to the days of late premier Zhou Enlai in the middle of last century. A stable and assertive Turkey can act as China's more vocal and assertive partner in the region, so it should come as no surprise that issues such as Syria and Iran were important agenda items during Erdogan's visit.

Another purpose of the visit was clearly economic. The accompanying delegation of 300 Turkish business leaders was not here to sightsee. Bilateral trade has reached $24 billion, with a balance in China's favor. The Turkish side was vocal in promoting Chinese investment in Turkey and pointing out Turkey's new willingness to facilitate investment from abroad. This is important because Turkey was long known for its protectionist laws and regulations.

Many important agreements were inked during the trip, especially in the field of energy. China appears poised to have a good chance to build Turkey's second nuclear energy plant. Also the number of Chinese tourists, which reached 100,000 for the first time last year, a 66 percent increase over 2009, is set to boom. Nothing builds bilateral bridges like personal visits and this will be another important legacy of this trip.

Barring unforeseen developments the romance will continue with both sides scheduled to continue to meet to hammer out more economic and political agreements in the coming months and years. This year's celebration of Chinese culture in Turkey will morph into 2013's Year of Turkish Culture in China.

And, who knows, maybe one of Erdogan's considerable legacies will be to have given birth to his dream of achieving a state-of-the-art Silk Road railway connecting 28 countries and stretching across China and Europe.

The author is a senior advisor to Tsinghua University and former director and vice-president of ABC Television in New York.

(China Daily 04/17/2012 page8)