KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah affirmed the State of Kuwait’s determination to expand cooperation with China as one of its key commercial partners. The minister made the statement as he chaired Kuwait’s delegation partaking in the 9th ministerial session of the Arab-Chinese Cooperation Forum, held via videoconference on Monday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the forum addressed the distinctive strategic bonds between Arab states and China, and means of developing the forum, noting that the participants in the gathering discussed proposals regarding latest regional and international issues of common concern, namely those related to combating the novel coronavirus.

The ministry said the foreign minister addressed the conferees with greetings to eminent participants, namely Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Al-Safadi, the Chinese state advisor and foreign minister Wang Yi, and Arab League Secretary General Ahmad Abul Gheit. He expressed gratitude to Jordan for hosting the forum and praised Beijing for its keenness on organizing it regularly, despite current extraordinary circumstances worldwide. He also expressed identical sentiments to the Arab League for co-organizing the event.

Special circumstances

Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser stated that the meeting was held in shadow of the special circumstances that have jolted the world due to spread of the coronavirus which has led to unprecedented social and economic repercussions, posing a real threat to states’ security and stability. One of the key lessons that can be derived from this pandemic experience is that no state, regardless how abundant its resources and capacities may be, can solely face it solely and that global cooperation is the option to face and contain the outbreak.

In this vein, he pointed out, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah had ordered allotting $100 million for this purpose, adding that part of the allocation was dedicated for Arab states to face the pandemic, in addition to supporting the World Health Organization and research centers throughout the world to speed up search for a vaccine. He lauded the regular holding of this forum, founded in 2004, noting that commercial exchanges between Arab countries and China reached $266 billion in 2019, growing by nine percent per year.

The state of Kuwait welcomes Saudi Arabia’s planned hosting of the first Arab-Chinese summit, a step that would further bolster the strategic partnership between the Arabs and the Chinese. Citing a tangible example of Kuwait’s keenness on boosting the bonds with China, the foreign minister noted the Kuwait-Chinese summit, held in Beijing in 2018. He has affirmed that China is one of the major trade partners with Kuwait with the trade volume estimated at $18.7 billion. Moreover, he has pointed out, that the Chinese-inspired ‘silk road initiative’ constitutes a promising opportunity for both with respect of implementing Kuwait Vision 2035.

He affirmed the determination to continue to develop cooperation through economic, commercial, technical mechanisms as well as bilateral treaties, affirming the Arabs’ policy of non-intervention in the Chinese domestic affairs. The Kuwaiti foreign affairs ministry noted in its statement that an official statement was issued in the end of the meeting-including the topics that were discussed and a pledge for solidarity for fighting the novel coronavirus.

The Kuwaiti delegation at the meeting included the Assistant Foreign Minister for Asian Affairs Ali Al-Saeed, the Assistant Foreign Minister for the Arab world Affairs Ambassador Fahad Al-Awadhi, the Assistant Foreign Minister for the Minister’s Bureau Affairs Ambassador Saleh Al-Loughani, the State of Kuwait Permanent Envoy at the Arab League Ahmad Al-Bakr and other senior officials of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Strategic partnership

Arab countries and China stressed the importance of enhancing the Sino-Arab strategic partnership relations for mutual development and common benefits. This came in the Amman declaration issued at the end of the session. The declaration pointed to the necessity of working to establish the Chinese-Arab community “for establishment of the common future society to be presented to the upcoming Arab-Chinese summit.”

The two sides recorded positive evaluation of the 8th session of the ministerial meeting, successfully held in Beijing July 10, 2018, with the participation of His Highness the Kuwaiti Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AL-Jaber Al-Sabah and Chinese President Xi Jinping. They also agreed to hold an Arab-Chinese summit to serve the common interest, and welcomed the planned of this summit by Saudi Arabia, indicating that its date would be set according to a mutual agreement. They also praised Chinese President’s initiative for cooperation, promising opportunities and mutual benefit.

The conferees agreed to continue coordination to support the Palestinian cause and rejected Israel’s plans to annex any part of the occupied Palestinian territory, considering it serious escalation of its aggressive policies and violation of the Palestinian people rights. The two sides called on Israel to lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip and resolve issue of the Palestinian refugees in a fair manner in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions, welcoming a decision of the United Nations General Assembly to extend the mandate of the relief agency, UNRWA, for three years.

In this regard, they expressed deep concern about the agency’s chronic financial deficit, calling on the international community to secure sustainable financial resources for its budget and activities in order to enable it to continue its role. The declaration strongly rejected United States’ decision to recognize the “sovereignty of Israel over the occupied Syrian Golan,” stressing that this decision constituted a serious violation of UN Charter, international law and relevant UN resolutions. Moreover, they affirmed commitment to the unity, sovereignty, stability and territorial integrity of Lebanon, calling on Israel to withdraw from the rest of the occupied Lebanese territories and immediately end its recurring breaches of the Lebanese sovereignty.

Political solutions

They stressed importance of joint international and regional efforts to find political solutions to crises and regional issues in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions and relevant agreements, stressing the integrity and territorial integrity of Arab countries, especially in Syria, Libya and Yemen. The declaration reaffirmed the support of the two sides for the efforts made by Lebanon, Iraq, Somalia and Sudan to achieve and enhance security, stability, development, prosperity and combating terrorism.

They emphasized the principle of freedom of maritime navigation in international waters in accordance with the established rules in international law and the conventions of the law of the sea and the need to ensure the security and safety of maritime navigation at the Arabian Gulf, Sea of Oman, Red Sea, Strait of Hormuz, Bab Al-Mandab, and secure energy supply lines.

Furthermore, they also condemned all acts targeting the security and safety of navigation, energy supplies, oil pipelines, oil installations at the Arabian Gulf and other waterways. The declaration stressed the importance of cooperation relations between the Arab countries and Iran based on the principle of good neighborliness, non-interference in internal affairs, respect for the principle of the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of states, the resolution of disputes by peaceful means, and the refusal to use force or threat. They also emphasized support for all efforts aimed at preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, noting the importance of implementing the resolution on the Middle East that was adopted in 1995.

The session stressed the results of the 2000 and 2010 review conferences and welcomed the holding of the first session of the conference to establish a zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East chaired by Jordan in 2019. They also welcomed, in this regard, Kuwait presidency to the second session of this conference, and appreciated China’s participation.

They also expressed condemnation of terrorism acts and work to combat extremist ideology and terrorism. The session emphasized the need to continue enhancing cooperation in economic, social, development and information fields between the Arab countries and China, as they welcomed holding the 10th session of the meeting in china in 2022. — KUNA