We oppose unilateral trade protectionism —— Voices from China-Turkey Economic and Trade Cooperation and Exchange Conference

The China-Turkey Economic and Trade Cooperation and Exchange Conference was held recently in Ankara, Turkey. The Chinese ambassador to Turkey, Deng Li, chairman of Turkey's Patriotic Party (Vatan Party) Dogu Perincek, and several well-known Turkish entrepreneurs, bankers, and senior officials from economic departments participated in the conference, expressing their opposition to unilateralism, protectionism and their wish to jointly built the “Belt and Road”.

Deng Li pointed out at the conference that for some time, the U.S. unilaterally initiated the economic and trade friction and tried to get unilaterally beneficial agreement for the U.S. through maximum pressure, which is the fundamental cause of the setback to the economic and trade consultations. We firmly oppose any country impose unilateral sanctions on Chinese entities in accordance with its domestic laws, and we also oppose the generalization of the concept of national security and the abuse of export control measures.

Deng Li said, there is no evidence that Huawei has threatened the national security of other countries. It is unfair, immoral and unacceptable for the U.S. to use its national strength to suppress Chinese private enterprises like Huawei based on fabricated excuses. Huawei has its second largest R&D center overseas in Istanbul, with a large number of Turkish engineers working in the center, who know best about whether Huawei threatens the security of other countries or not. Huawei has a win-win relationship with Turkish users.

“The trade war launched by the U.S. against China can be seen as a helpless move by a declining power. The U.S. has destroyed its credibility, and Turkey is willing to join hands with China to meet the challenges of unilateral trade protectionism,” Dogu Perincek said.

Ethem Sancak, chairman of BMC, a Turkish defense industry group, said that Turkey and China need each other and the hearts of the people from both counties are linked. We can’t get high technologies from western countries, nor can China. Asia is our ultimate decisive factor, and we will cooperate with China to bring development to our two countries.

Perincek stated that Asia, especially China, has many opportunities for investment. China will lead the production revolution in the future and Turkey is also standing at the door of production revolution. The current economic difficulties of Turkey are closely linked to the world economic situation, and Turkey will not be defeated by the current difficulties. He also expressed belief that although China and Turkey are not geographical neighbors, the two countries have close political and cultural connections. Turkey is an important country in cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative with a geographical location of strategic significance. Turkey looks forward to sharing development achievements with China and expanding cooperation in investment, production and other fields, he said.