The article examines the nature of relations and main areas of cooperation between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Arab members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)¹. The topic is relevant due to the growing influence of these states on the processes taking place in the world.

Keywords: Arab countries-members of the OIC, Chinese foreign policy, Islam, Chinese Muslims.

Relations between China and the Arab countries intensified significantly after the Bandung Conference, held on April 18-24, 1955, which was attended by the first Chairman of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, Zhou Enlai. Here he also met with the then President of Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser2. In May of the same year, the Chinese-Egyptian "Protocol of Negotiations on Cultural Issues" was signed, concerning the exchange of teachers and students. In 1956, diplomatic relations were established with Egypt, Syria and Yemen, and later with other states of the Middle East.

The issue of recognizing the PRC as a UN member has become a subject of debate in the diverse Arab world. In general, the position of the Arab countries was expressed in the resolution of the First Conference of Non-Aligned States in Belgrade (1-6 September 1961).:

¹ Until 2011-Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

² Interestingly, as early as 1931, the first group of Chinese arrived in Cairo to study at Al-Azhar University, where a special department was opened for them.

"The countries participating in the conference that recognize the Government of the People's Republic of China recommend that the General Assembly at its upcoming session recognize the representatives of the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate representatives of this country in the UN "[Declaration of Heads of State and Government..., 1975, p.73]. The decision of the members of the League of Arab States (LAS) of 17 September 1961 was similar. These events laid the foundation for the development of relations between China and the Islamic world, allowing each Arab country to build relations with China based on its own foreign policy interests. As a result, by the early 1970s, the PRC had settled relations with many Middle Eastern states, and the recognition at the 29th session of the UN General Assembly (Resolution No. 2758) of representatives of its government as the only legitimate representatives of the Chinese people predetermined the beginning of a political dialogue with a number of international organizations, including the OIC.

The OIC was founded on September 25, 1969, at the Conference of Heads of Muslim States in Rabat. Currently, it consists of 57 member countries, i.e. almost a quarter of all states in the world [Official website of the OIC...], whose total population reaches 1.2 billion people [Population Counter..., 2013] and is constantly growing. The trend towards the growth of the Muslim population that emerged in the second half of the 20th century has long been the subject of discussion. At the end of the XX - beginning of the XXI century, the average annual growth of Muslims was 2.1% (Christians-1.3%). If the difference in growth rates does not change, by 2025 the number of adherents of Islam will reach 30% of the world's population (Christians-25%). That is, almost every third inhabitant of the earth will be a Muslim [Belokrenitsky, 2010, pp. 84-96].

In this regard, some researchers have suggested that in the future the OIC will be able to claim to increase its status and influence on the world stage, and in the long term become the second most important international organization after the UN [Ozerov, 2012, pp. 91-92].

30% of the OIC participants are Arab countries that joined the Organization in the period from 1969 to 1972, i.e. almost immediately after its formation. They also play a prominent role as China's foreign policy priorities in the Middle East, although the development of cooperation with other OIC members also meets China's geostrategic interests. That is why the study of China's foreign policy is impossible without revealing the nature of interaction between this country and Iran, Turkey and a number of countries in Central and South-East Asia, as well as Africa. One should also take into account the great influence of the OIC on Muslims living in countries outside the organization, including Chinese adherents of Islam.

CHINESE MUSLIMS

There are about 20 million Muslims in China (Hu Zhenhua, 2009), and their situation is an important aspect of China's domestic policy. First of all, because regions with a predominant Muslim population remain among the least developed economically, unstable from a socio-political point of view, and are hotbeds of possible conflict situations - both at the local level and throughout the country.

Many aspects of the practice and activities of religious institutions in the PRC, including Muslim ones, are defined by articles 34 and 36 of the Constitution of the PRC[ Constitution of the People's Republic of China], Regulation on Religious Affairs No. 426, adopted by the State Council of the PRC on July 7, 2004 and entered into force on March 1, 2005. [Regulations on religious affairs...], and a number of other legislative acts.

There are 56 national minorities in the country, 10 of them - Hui, Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Tatars, Tajiks, Dongxiangs, Salars, Baoans-profess Islam [Hu Zhenhua, 2009]. Chinese Muslims live in many areas

They speak different dialects and have different origins [Zavyalova, 1996, p. 140].

Most Chinese Muslims practice Sunni Islam, but Xinjiang is home to a small number of Shiites. There are two historically formed branches of Islam in China: the Chinese Religion itself, which has developed in the regions of inner China, and the Islam of Xinjiang with its inherent "Turkic flavor" [Osnovnye osobennosti..., 2012], which was influenced by Sufism.

Currently, there are more than 35 thousand mosques in the country, where about 50 thousand representatives of the clergy preach. Approximately 400 legal and secret organizations have been created, some of which are classified as terrorist. Among them are the United Front of East Turkestan, the Iskra Rodina movement, the Movement of Islam of East Turkestan, the Taliban, the Movement for the Islamic Faith, and the Hizb al-Tahrir party (Komissina, 2009, pp. 42-43).

The Muslims of the organization of the People's Republic of China are united in the Chinese Islamic Association (KIA), which has branches in different cities and provinces. 2013 marked the 60th anniversary of its creation. Founded in 1953, it is subordinate to the State Administration of Religious Affairs and has its permanent headquarters in Beijing [60 years since its foundation..., 2013]. A Theological Institute was established at KIA. The tasks of the association include strengthening the unity of the country, countering separatism and developing friendly relations with foreign Islamic institutions. In particular, KIA has permanent representatives to the Arab League. Once every four years, the National Islamic Conference is held, where problems of Muslim communities, issues of spiritual education, pilgrimage, etc. are discussed. [Chinese Philosophy..., 1994, p. 139]. Since 1957, the association publishes the magazine "Chinese Muslims", later a special Internet site was created [http://www.chinaislam.net.cn/].

The Chinese system of Islamic education is also extensive. The resumption of the work of relevant educational institutions in the mid-1980s - after the "cultural revolution" - and the scale with which educational activities are carried out in them indicate an" Islamic revival " in the PRC.

The most famous Muslim educational centers are the Chinese Institute of Islam in Beijing (founded in 1958); the Islamic Institute in Shenyang (1982), the funds (245 thousand dollars) for the reconstruction of which in 2002 came from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB); the Islamic Institute in Xinjiang (1987); the Islamic Institute of Islam in Shanghai (2001). Hebei Province (1992); Zhengzhou Islamic Institute (1985), the administrative center of Henan Province; Beijing Islamic Institute (1986) [Islamic Education..., 2013]; Lanzhou Islamic Institute (2004), the administrative center of Gansu Province, established with the support of the IDB (territory - 8.7 hectares, it has seven buildings, including dormitories) [About the Lanzhou Institute..., 2013]; Ningxia University (1985); Qinghai Province Islamic University (1985), Kunming Islamic Institute (1987).

POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC COOPERATION

In the 1970s, the formation of a new foreign policy doctrine of China began. The importance of the Arab East, which was previously one of the strategically important areas of Beijing's foreign policy, has increased. The Chinese government began to see this region not only as a zone of rivalry between major world powers, but also as an area of great importance for the development of the Chinese economy. It should be noted that by that time China was able to establish strong ties only with individual states in the region, its influence in the Arab East was insignificant, and with countries such as Jordan, Libya, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates,

Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have not yet established diplomatic relations.

Changes in the PRC's foreign policy course coincided with the creation and establishment of the OIC. Relations with this organization paved the way for the development of cooperation with Islamic states in the field of culture and religion, and later in other areas. In other words, China successfully took advantage of the emergence of this major international organization in its transition to a new foreign policy course. In February 1974, Zhou Enlai first sent greetings to the next meeting of the heads of Islamic states. Later, similar messages were sent repeatedly.

At the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, the activities of the Chinese Islamic Association, which had been interrupted by the Cultural Revolution, were restored. Its contacts with the Muslim world, including the OIC, have noticeably intensified. In 1979, the practice of performing the Hajj by Chinese Muslims was resumed, collections of hadiths (sayings) and the Koran were published, and funds were allocated for the reconstruction of mosques. In 1981 and 1984, several OIC delegations visited Beijing, Xinjiang, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Guangzhou. Since 1985, with the approval of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, the Chinese Islamic Association has been creating conditions for organizing trips to Saudi Arabia. High-ranking officials of the Xinjiang Uyghur and Ningxia Hui autonomous regions made a pilgrimage to Mecca [Ma Lizhong, 2012, p. 18-19]. With the support of KIA, an exchange of students with Libyan universities began, and cooperation with Al-Azhar University in Cairo was resumed.

In 1984, ten years after the beginning of official contacts, the OIC representatives organized the first Islamic forum in China. The warming of relations was also due to the interest in developing economic cooperation, which has become the most important factor in interaction between the PRC and the OIC. Since 1985. The Islamic Development Bank has started providing financial support to Xinjiang Uyghur, Ningxia Hui and other areas of China with Muslim populations, financed a number of projects in the field of Islamic education, and also allocated funds for the reconstruction of mosques and drilling of water wells in dry areas. In 1986, it provided more than $ 4 million to China. on the development of Muslim projects [Ma Lijun, 2012, p. 25].

The subject of constant discussion was the creation of favorable conditions for the development of Islamic culture in China. In 1988, a scientific symposium was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to address the issue of religious freedom in China. In 1992, the OIC delegation visited China again [Yang Zhibo, 1992], whose participants praised the development of Islam in the Middle Kingdom, and in November 1994, the Deputy Secretary General of the OIC visited China (conditions for the pilgrimage of Chinese Muslims to Mecca and Medina were discussed). In April 1995, an OIC representative met with a group of Chinese pilgrims in Mecca. In July 1995, an OIC delegation headed by the Head of the Department of Multilateral Relations and Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Morocco visited China [Organization of Islamic Cooperation, 2012].

By the mid-1990s, the PRC established diplomatic relations with all Arab countries and Israel (1992). It should be noted that the development of contacts between the PRC and the OIC took place in parallel and in close connection with the strengthening of ties in the PRC - Arab League format.

The first political consultations between China and Islamic organizations concerned the Palestinian and Bosnian issues, in which the OIC and the Arab League tried to enlist the support of the Chinese leadership [Ma Lirong, 2012, p.20]. However, the Chinese position on both issues was very cautious, as evidenced by the letter (dated May 31, 2001) of the Minister of Foreign Affairs

China's Tang Jiaxuan to the OIC Secretary General in response to the offer to provide support to Palestine within the UN Security Council. With his characteristic diplomacy, Tang Jiaxuan confirmed that China is ready to strengthen cooperation with the OIC, takes a consistent position on the issue of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement, and is ready to contribute to this settlement [ibid., p. 20].

In July 2005, the first visit of OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu to China took place [Organization of Islamic Cooperation, 2012]. This happened against the background of the general strengthening of China's relations with the countries of the Middle East and Central Asia, which began in 2004, that is, after the establishment of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum and negotiations on the creation of a free trade zone between the PRC and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which entered into at the end of 2013. to the final stage.

Issues related to economic cooperation, the situation of China's ethnic minorities, as well as the socio-economic development of Muslim-majority areas occupy the main positions in the Sino-Arab dialogue. In May 2007, the Deputy Head of KIA, Yu Zhengyi, met with the President of the Islamic Development Bank, Ahmed Al-Madani, and expressed gratitude for providing gratuitous financial assistance for the development of Islamic culture and education [Ma Lirong, 2012, p. 20].

The results of the China-Saudi Symposium on Trade and Economic issues (June 2008), organized by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Saudi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, clearly demonstrate that the Arab States are interested in economic cooperation with the PRC. As a result of the symposium, Chinese companies were awarded construction contracts in SA, including the construction of a $ 1.8 billion railway between Mecca and Medina, completed in late 2010. [Kommersant, 11.02.2009].

Trends towards strengthening the bilateral dialogue and intensifying contacts at the highest level were outlined in 2010. In June, the Secretary General of the OIC E. Ihsanoglu visited China and met alternately with Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Wu Bangguo, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Head of the State Committee for Religious Affairs Wang Zuoan, and held talks with Deputy Foreign Minister Zhai Jun. The joint communique issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the OIC called for strengthening the negotiation process and expanding cooperation in the political, economic, trade and cultural fields, as well as in the fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism [Ibid.].

In December 2010, the first visit of the Chinese delegation at the government level to the OIC headquarters took place [Organization of Islamic Cooperation, 2012], and in May of the same year and in June 2011, the Chinese Ambassadors to Tajikistan (Zou Xueliang) and Kazakhstan (Zhou Lixian) participated in the 37th and 38th sessions of the Council of Foreign Ministers DEC cases [Ibid.].

In June 2012, the Secretary General of the OIC (formerly the OIC) returned to China to participate in the first China-Islamic Civilization Forum, ³ which was held with the support of the Chinese Center for the Study of the History of Art and Culture of Islam and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. According to Jia Qinglin, Chairman of the People's Political Consultative Conference of China, "the purpose of the forum was to study cultural exchange between China and the civilizations and cultures of Islam-

³ The abstracts of the forum participants 'speeches can be found on the official website of the Research Center for the History, Art and Culture of Islam at the OIC [International Congress on" China and the Muslim World: Cultural Encounters " / / http://www.ircica.org/intcrnational-congrcss-on-china-and-thc-muslim-world-cultural-cncountcrs/irc902.aspx].

Table 1

Source: [Ma Lijun. 2012, p. 18].

world" [Speech of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs..., 01.06.2012]. The parties considered "inter-civilizational interaction" as a basis for strengthening economic ties, and it was not only about the development of regions with a significant share of the Muslim population, but also about more extensive cooperation.

* * *

China's cooperation with Islamic states in the framework of "inter-civilizational interaction" is an important component of Chinese foreign policy. Through the National Bureau of Religious Affairs, KIA, and a number of research institutions dealing with the history, ideology, and culture of Islam, Chinese Muslims maintain and strengthen relations with the Muslim World League, the Muslim World Congress, the Egyptian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, and the Islamic associations of Malaysia and Indonesia [Friendly Relations of Chinese Muslims..., 2013].

There are four main areas of cooperation [Ma Lizhong, 2012, p. 18]: performing Hajj by Chinese Muslims (see Table). 1), participation of KIA in international Islamic conferences, exchange of delegations and negotiations between high-ranking representatives of the PRC and the OIC.

The topics of the dialogue are mainly related to the following issues: creating conditions for the Hajj, receiving Islamic education at home and abroad, developing Islamic culture in China, financing Islamic projects in China by OIC members; developing regions with a significant share of the Muslim population; security and countering terrorism and separatism; creating a favorable image of Islamic culture in China and abroad. Chinese - in Islamic countries.

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