Recently, two Chinese companies are actively working with the Iraqi government to build about 30,000 housing projects in Iraq. However, the project has made the reporters of the Iraqi Rudao Media Group question, and at the press conference of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the Iranian side questioned in person why the project does not have a single house in any province of the Kurdistan region.
China's response to this is worth pondering, and Iran also has to understand China's difficulties.
(Chinese companies help Iraq to build)
Iraq is home to Babylon, one of the four great civilizations, especially in the water-scarce land of the Middle East, where rivers are even more precious, and Iraq is located in the valley of two rivers, one is the Euphrates and the other is the Tigris. Mountains in the upper reaches and vast plains in the lower reaches, and between the two rivers is the Fertile Crescent, also known as the Mesopotamian Plains, where early human civilization was born.
But this fertile land has been a land of historical disputes, and Iraq is not only strategically located in the Middle East, but also has multiple ethnic and religious groups, so divisions and conflicts have always accompanied the development of this civilization.
We will not talk about the history of Iraq today, but we will talk about what is going on in the Kurdish region of Iraq separately.
(Euphrates River in Iraq)
The Kurdistan Region of Iraq is an ethnic autonomous region in Iraq, located in the north of Iraq, with an area of about 80,000 square kilometers and a population of about 5.5 million. Since 1947, the region has been an autonomous region of Iraq, but in September 2017, the Kurdish Autonomous Region of Iraq held a referendum that showed that 92% of the population was in favor of independence for the Kurdistan Autonomous Region. However, Barzani, the Iraqi Kurdish regional leader at the time, said that the vote was not a declaration of independence, but should be the beginning of negotiations.
In fact, the Kurds have always wanted to establish their own state, whether it is from the principle of history, population or national self-determination, the conditions for the Kurds to establish a state are no worse than those of the Jews or the Palestinians, but the Kurds have repeatedly stood on the wrong side at major turning points in history, and finally were stabbed in the back by Turkey, and signed the "Lausanne Treaty", which divided the Kurdish land into four parts, the largest part in Turkey, and the remaining three parts were given to Iran, French Syria, and British Iraq, which is today's pattern.
(Prime Minister of the Government of the Kurdistan Autonomous Region of Iraq Barzani)
We all know that the United States launched the Gulf War in 1991, and Iraq was in chaos, which gave the Kurds in Iraq hope for statehood, because the Kurdish region of Iraq is already rich in oil and gas resources, which provides a substantial foundation for the region's economic self-sufficiency and independence. Moreover, after the Gulf War, the Kurdistan region developed a relatively independent administration and armed forces, and although the region enjoyed autonomy within the framework of Iraq's constitution, it hoped to further consolidate and expand its autonomy.
However, the road to independence in the Kurdistan region of Iraq has not been smooth. Challenges include opposition from Iraq's central government, concerns from neighboring countries, notably Turkey and Iran, which also have large Kurdish populations, and attitudes from the international community, which have even provoked negative responses including economic blockades and military interventions.
(The United States launched the Gulf War)
Therefore, when an Iraqi reporter asked why housing was not being built in the Kurdish area, it was not necessary for Iraqi personnel to use this question to see China's attitude towards the Kurdish issue.
After all, China's attitude toward Iraq's Kurdish region has always been cautious and emphasizing respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty. Moreover, China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference in its internal affairs in international affairs. Moreover, China has established a strategic partnership with Iraq, and China is willing to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the Iraqi central government and local governments at all levels, so as to continuously enrich the content of the China-Iraq strategic partnership.
In response to a question raised by an Iraqi journalist, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin responded in this way. China and Iraq have friendly relations. As a sincere friend of the Iraqi people, China has been actively participating in Iraq's economic reconstruction and making positive contributions to Iraq's economic and social development, which has been widely praised by the Iraqi Government and people. We are ready to work with Iran to make new progress in practical cooperation between the two countries in various fields.
(Chinese skilled workers teach young Iraqi employees to measure and lofting)
In fact, as Iraq's Kurdistan region plays an increasingly important role in regional politics and energy production, China respects Iraq's central government while maintaining pragmatic economic cooperation with Kurdish local governments.
Taking a step back, we should understand China's difficulties in this question of Iraqi journalists, because this is China's pragmatic cooperation to help Iraq improve the lives of the people in Iraq, and the starting point is very good, and the sincerity of the cooperation between the two sides should not be questioned with such difficult questions. Moreover, the answer to this question may be well explained by the Iraqi government, and the original intention of the cooperation in which Chinese enterprises participate is not political, but more economic. In order to resolve the Kurdish issue, the Iraqi Government should be more proactive, actively consult with all parties, and properly resolve the issue peacefully. This will also help China to better cooperate with all parties in Iraq.