October 2017

ssIn October, the Mediterranean media paid great attention to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In general, their attitude was positive. In particular, it seems that the problems of communication highlighted by Chinese scholars (see the September issue of the ChinaMed Observer) are not that significant, at least in the media and academic reports.

An article published by the Saudi newspaper Al Arabya, for example, called for letting matters taking their course as China implements the BRI. While Western countries "starved" the region of the necessary investments by imposing conditions in exchange of capitals, China is more focused on ensuring mutual gains. For the moment, the journalist argued, the non-interference policy in other countries' affairs is what gives China a competitive edge in regional economic affairs. This is not beneficial only forthe single countries involved, but the regional tensions too can be eased thanks to shared economic development. China and the Arab countries are both interested in economic development and stability in the region and they canhelp each other to achieve both. However, argued Jamil Matar from the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, while the elites might welcome economic cooperation with China, Mater wrote, many Arab young people are stillvery idealistic and might not like the Chinese political system. Egypt andother regional players need to improve their understanding of China in order tomanage this potential problem and improve cooperation.

Both Iranian and Turkish media emphasized the importance of the two countries in the framework ofChina's BRI as they also report new Chinese investments in real estate,transportation, energy, and finance sectors. In particular, an article published in the Hürriyet forecasted that the under the strong leadership of Xi Jinping the BRI will bring China and Turkey closer. From the presence of COSCO in the Piraeus Port to the warships that visited Istanbul in early 2017, the article presented China's presence inthe Mediterranean region as a matter of fact. As the Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan praises the China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the journalist concluded that a geopolitical transformation is happening in the region and theworld and Turkey's future will be inevitably influenced by it.

Algerian media TSA and Djazairess reported presented a more mixed situation. In particular,it emerges a loud call to rebalance the economic relationship between the North Africa country and China. TSA reported that the Algerian and Chinese authorities are aware of the growing imbalance and are discussing how to solve the problem. Although there are some uncertainties about the economic feasibility of investments in agricultural and manufacture-related projects, the development of the Algerian mining sector and logistic infrastructures like ports and roads have reportedly been identifiedas a subject of common interests for both countries. The problem presented isnot just economic, but also social for many Algerians complained about the marginal integration of the numerous Chinese workers in the country and thelimited transfer of technological know-how. While both articles praised the good will shown by China to find common ground for mutual gains, they also encouraged Algerian authorities to improve their understanding of Chinese policies in order to ensure the maximum benefit and avoid over-reliance on Chinese capitals.