CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VI (1) Contemporary-Eurasia-VI-1-engl | Page 39

CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VI (1)
was evident in the region. The second period dates from 1958 to 1979,
when the Iraqi revolution became a conflicting cause based on
ideological contradictions between two Gulf major courses-radical
republic and conservative monarchies. The third period is from 1979
to 1990, when the Islamic Revolution of Iran once again ‘updated’ the
previously-existed confrontation between the Arab world and Persian
civilization based on national-religious elements. The fourth period is
from 1990 to 2001, when the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait established a
triangular structure based on political, as well as strategic conflicts
among Iraq, Iran and the GCC countries. And finally, the fifth period
relates to period from 2001 to the present times, when the September
11 terroristic attacks regenerated antagonism between two main
religious branches of Islam-the Sunnis and the Shiites. Thus, since the
beginning of the 21 st century the religious contradiction in the Gulf
region became a dominating factor 2 .
China’s Gulf policy can be divided into the following stages in
accordance with this strategic form:
1958-1967: China focused its foreign policy on Iraq, and the main
reason were the ideological stand and revolutionary orientations of
Iraqi regime during the Cold War period;
 1967-1971: China focused on revolutionary developments in the
Gulf region during extreme radicalization period of its foreign policy;
 1971-1979: China aimed to create broader united front against
the Soviet imperialistic expansion. The US President Nixon’s visit to
China put closer geostrategic Sino-US interests in the Gulf region;
 1979-1990: China used Iran-Iraq war to increase its public
revenues, becoming a major arms supplier to both sides;
 1990-2001: China started to pay special attention to Iran;
 2001-to the present: China focused on two major giants in the Gulf
region-Saudi Arabia and Iran. In regard to Beijing’s foreign policy
objectives and approach to the region those states are presenting the
highest priority 3 .
Cheng J., China’s Relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council States:
Multilevel Diplomacy in a Divided Arab World, China Review 16 (1), 2016, p. 39.
3
Ibid.
2
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