MIDDLE EAST HISTORY POLITICS CULTURE XIII MIDDLE EAST XIII | Página 182

quite similar, however, some differences could always be found between
them. 23
China and the Middle Eastern states are both traditional and old
societies with relatively long and outstanding history, culture and civili-
zation. While initiating certain cooperative moves towards the Middle East,
China takes this phenomenon seriously enough, paying attention to all details
relating to history. China is known to be a close country, therefore traditional
Chinese society’s knowledge about the outside world was little and limited.
Within the centuries Chinese leaders were apprehensive about the country’s
domestic security. They were avoiding to establish extensive contacts with
foreign states. First during the mid-Qing dynasty and then during the late
Maoist period the Chinese government was imposing absolute limitations on
both economic and cultural relations with the West in order to protect the
country from destabilizing influences coming from abroad. In the post-Mao
period Beijing’s new leadership has acknowledged the limitations to such
policy implementation. Furthermore, in 1984 China’s leader Deng Xiaoping
went so far that he blamed China’s backwardness on its international
isolation in the past arguing that “any country that closes its door to the
outside world cannot achieve progress.” 24 He and his colleagues recognized
the importance of expanding economic, scientific and cultural exchanges
with outside world, including the United States. By implementing such a
policy China could become a more developed and powerful country. 25
The result of China’s policies liberalization on foreign relations
throughout the 1980s helped the country to achieve dramatic expansion of
trade, tourism, investment, as well as academic exchanges with the United
States. By the late 1980s many Chinese were hoping that the country’s
relations with the US could be transformed from a geopolitical alignment into
an economic partnership. These hopes were related to Beijing’s much needed
economic reforms and modernization programs. Washington’s huge potential
for providing China with capital, markets, advanced technology and scientific
know-how were viewed as significant opportunities. 26
Despite Beijing’s Marxist ideology and sympathetic stand towards
Neill, նշվ. աշխ., էջ 87:
Harding, նշվ. աշխ., էջ13:
25 Ibid
26 Schuster, նշվ. աշխ., էջ201:
23
24
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