PRC/EGYPT: IRAN SUPPORT, LOP-SIDED BILATERAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIJING 000246

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/29/2035
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON CH EG IR
SUBJECT: PRC/EGYPT: IRAN SUPPORT, LOP-SIDED BILATERAL
AGENDA FRUSTRATE CAIRO

Classified By: Deputy Political Section Chief Ben Moeling.
Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY. According to an Egyptian diplomatic contact,
Arab states are increasingly frustrated by China's ability to
obtain concessions in the China-Arab Cooperation Forum
without offering the region commensurate support for its
interests. China was primarily interested in political
support in the Muslim world for its policies in Xinjiang,
increased energy cooperation, and access to new markets for
Chinese products. He claimed that Egypt was rethinking its
approach to the China-Arab Cooperation Forum as a result, and
was particularly frustrated with the lack of response from
the PRC to Arab concerns over Iran's destabilizing actions in
the region. END SUMMARY.

Seeking New Approach to China-Arab Cooperation Forum
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2. (C) Egyptian Embassy Political Officer Haitham Safey
(protect) told PolOff January 28 that China's relations with
the Arab world faced difficulties in the coming months due to
frustration in the Middle East at China's ability to advance
its agenda in the region without providing benefits in
return. He said that the two sides were beginning
preparations for the China-Arab Cooperation Forum ministerial
conference to be held in June in Beijing, and a consensus was
emerging among Arab states that a new approach was needed
given the lack of Chinese willingness to provide them with
benefits while walking away with a range of concessions at
past meetings.

What China Wants: Oil, Markets, Political Backing
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3. (C) Safey reported that China's efforts to obtain broad
political support throughout the Muslim world for its ethnic
policies in Xinjiang had been very successful. China also
received much of what it desired in terms of increased energy
cooperation and broad market access in previous meetings of
the China-Arab Cooperation Forum. He argued that access to
growing markets in the Middle East was particularly important
for China coming out of the global economic crisis, during
which Beijing came to realize the vulnerability it faced from
its reliance on exports to U.S. and European markets. In
return for these concessions, Arab states feel they have
received no progress on issues that concern them, Safey
complained, and Egypt was re-considering its approach to
China in the run-up to the ministerial.

China Silent on Iran's Destabilizing Actions
--------------


4. (C) Our contact noted Iran as a particular point of
frustration. Egyptian leaders made clear to Wen Jiabao
during his November 2009 visit to Cairo, and at other times
since, their concerns about increasing Iranian interference
in the Arab world, including in the Israel/Palestine
conflict, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, and other places. He
claimed that Egypt and other Arab states were pushing China
to cool what they perceive as support for Iran in light of
these destabilizing actions. Safey reported that Wen Jiabao
had no response to the Egyptian concerns expressed last
November, and Chinese officials he had met with since also
failed to respond directly to these concerns. He said that
the Iranian nuclear issue was not specifically highlighted as
one of the concerns about Iran that the Egyptians had raised
with the PRC but Cairo's entreaties made clear the
destabilizing role of Iran in the region and the perception
that China was seen by the Iranians as a source of support.
HUNTSMAN