Beginning of a firm friendship … Sheikh Zayed’s landmark visit to China
We are witnessing a new phase in a relationship that dates back to the 7th century
The year was 1990. The world was grappling with the protracted break-up of the Soviet Union, all roads led to Italy for the World Cup, and in the UAE, Sheikh Zayed would embark on a historic trip that accelerated the country’s emergence on to the world stage.
On May 7, the Founding Father flew out of Abu Dhabi with a delegation including Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, now Vice President and Ruler of Dubai.
In the landmark, 17-day trip, Sheikh Zayed would first visit China and then move on to Japan and Indonesia.
“Despite the far distance between our countries, we share several goals and interests, mainly the need to develop our countries and achieve progress and prosperity for our peoples,” Sheikh Zayed said at the start of the Chinese visit.
“We sincerely hope our visit to China will help to boost our ties in all fields.”
Formal relations between the two countries had been only established a few years earlier and while trade had increased, Sheikh Zayed’s visit sought to establish a new era of co-operation between the UAE and China.
“The visit to Beijing, the first stop of his three-nation tour, was powerful evidence of Sheikh Zayed’s recognition of the importance of building close political and economic ties with a country that was then rapidly emerging as a global power,” said Peter Hellyer, a writer and historian who accompanied the delegation for part of the trip.
“Ties with Japan were long-standing, pre-dating the formation of the UAE Federation in 1971, but diplomatic relations with China had only been established in 1984 and the Chinese community in the emirates was still then very small.”
On his arrival, Sheikh Zayed first travelled to Beijing. On May 8, he was met by Chinese president Yang Shangkun at the Great Hall of the People on the edge of Tiananmen Square.
Sheikh Zayed reviewed a guard of honour and Mr Yang paid tribute to his “eye-catching” achievements in the Middle East.
Later, he hosted a banquet at the Great Hall in the UAE Ruler’s honour.
This was not a leisure trip and a full diary of events was scheduled every day.
On May 9, Sheikh Zayed held talks with Chinese prime minister Li Peng, met the secretary general of the Chinese Communist Party, Jiang Zemin, and hosted Arab ambassadors who were accredited to China.
He also presented a gift of a dagger in a beautiful wooden box to Mr Li.
By May 10, Sheikh Zayed was at the Great Wall of China and a famous photograph shows him with the global landmark in the background.
His Asian trip was extensively covered in the UAE newspapers of the time, copies of which are now kept in the National Archives.
At the time, foreign news dominated the agenda, with stories of turmoil in Gaza, strife in Pakistan and trouble in Eastern Europe.
But these sit beside local stories of new passenger buses for Dubai, municipality meetings and improvements to the phone network.
These reports reflect a country on the move, and leading this was Sheikh Zayed. Not an issue went by without some report of the President holding a meeting or issuing a directive.
Gulf News, Khaleej Times and the discontinued Emirates
News devoted many pages to the China visit.
Front-page reports documented Sheikh Zayed’s every move: signing books, greeting officials, meeting Chinese people and visiting local attractions. And forget text-heavy pages – comprehensive photo galleries of everything he did accompanied the words.
On May 11, he left Beijing for Shanghai where he attended a banquet hosted by the city’s mayor. His delegation took a river cruise to get a sense of the blistering pace of change in what is now the world’s most populous city.
By that Sunday, Sheikh Zayed would be in Japan before going on to Indonesia. But the Chinese trip had left its mark.
He was the first GCC leader to visit China, from a country not even 20 years old. It would be followed a month later by the UAE’s first and, to date, only appearance at a World Cup, and these moments marked a UAE that was striding confidently on to the world stage.
Sheikh Zayed promised to establish an Arab and Islamic studies centre in Beijing.
The centre opened in 1994 and was renamed the Sheikh Zayed Centre for Arabic Language and Islamic Studies during a 2012 visit by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
Today, about 200,000 Chinese people call the UAE home and thousands of Chinese companies operate here.
Strong cultural and trade links have been established.
This has been the greatest legacy of that 1990 trip and represents the landscape that awaits Chinese President Xi Jinping when he arrives here on Thursday.
“Sheikh Zayed’s historic state visit to China in 1990 represented a major step in the early development of the UAE’s diplomatic outreach to East Asia,” Hellyer said. “His visit, which also included trips to Japan and Indonesia, was the first of its kind.
“I was fortunate enough to accompany Sheikh Zayed on part of this important tour. Looking back, the trip to China laid the firm foundations of what has become a key relationship today.”
The trip established strong cultural and trade links, and today, about 200,000 Chinese people live in the UAE
“Here is the Tigris and nothing bars the way between it and China.” Those words of Abu Jafar Al Mansour, the 8th century Abbasid caliph of Baghdad, conjure a world of extensive cultural and commercial exchanges between China and the Arab world. China first entered the Arab imagination through rihla, the travelogues of early pioneers who made the trek between the centres of these two great civilisations on the ancient Silk Road that connected West Asia to the East. Commercial routes became a vehicle for the transmission of culture, and by the 9th century, there were sweeping accounts of life in China in Arabic. A mutual affection and respect that seemed to come naturally to both sides sustained the growing relationship. “Of all God’s creation”, one Arab traveller wrote, “the Chinese are among the most dexterous at engraving and manufacturing and at every kind of craft. Indeed, no one from any nation has the edge on them in this respect.” The Chinese, for their part, welcomed Arab travellers and built a mosque in Changan as early as the 7th century as a symbol of their respect for Islam.
After a millennium of upheaval, in which the West asserted its dominance and the East fell behind, an epochal shift is taking place. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the UAE on Thursday will be a landmark moment in the revival of old ties. It will affirm the centrality of the UAE to China’s bold plan to regenerate the Silk Road that had once been the greatest trading route on Earth. The UAE, already China’s largest trading partner in the region, is also the gateway that will connect the East with the West, integrating nations into an economic partnership that will eliminate distances, grant access to previously unreachable markets and bring vast benefits to ordinary people.
The potential of this relationship will be discussed in a forum on Friday that will be attended by Sultan Al Mansoori, the UAE’s Minister of Economy and his Chinese counterpart, Zhong Shan. But economics is one aspect of this friendship. As in the past, culture will play a prominent role as the two nations rediscover each other and their ties enter a new phase. Mr Xi will visit Louvre Abu Dhabi, which exemplifies the openness of this country. Meanwhile a week devoted to celebrating Chinese culture began in the UAE on Sunday with the launch of China Film Week. A dedicated service for Chinese visitors to the UAE will soon come into existence. And from here on a UAE-China week will be observed annually during the Chinese New Year. With the celebration of China and its culture, we are witnessing the beginning of a new phase in this dynamic partnership.