Xi Jinping and Tajikistan: “Good brothers walk hand in hand”

by Xinhua writers Chen Chen, Geng Pengyu

BEIJING/DUSHANBE — “I am filled with joy and hope to visit the home of a good neighbor and a good brother during this cool autumn season,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his signed article published in Tajik media ahead of his first state visit to the country in 2014.

In midsummer, Xi Jinping's third state visit to Tajikistan will surely write a new chapter in the friendship between the two countries.

DRESS AND ORDER

During his state visit in 2014, Xi Jinping was invited to the residence of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon for a family feast. To welcome his distinguished guest, Rahmon rolled out a silk carpet at the entrance to his presidential residence, a Tajik etiquette of the highest distinction reserved for distinguished guests.

Rahmon, accompanied by his family in traditional dress, greeted Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan.

The two leaders walked and talked in the courtyard, where the trees were lush and the fruits fragrant. Rahmon picked a fruit from a tree and handed it to Xi.

Inside the room, Rahmon personally dressed Xi in a chapan – a traditional Tajik robe – and tied a belt around his waist.

“I saw Dushanbe full of vitality and rapid development, and felt the simplicity, kindness and hospitality of the Tajik people,” Xi told Rahmon.

During his visit to Dushanbe in June 2019, Xi received the Order of the Crown from Rahmon. In Tajikistan, the word “Taj” means “crown.”

At the ceremony, Rahmon draped the sash over Xi's shoulder and presented him with his country's highest decoration. Noting that the Order of the Crown embodies the profound friendship the people of Tajikistan have with the Chinese people, Xi said he highly appreciates the decoration.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Tajikistan, bilateral relations have made significant progress, from a strategic partner to a comprehensive strategic partnership. Today, the two sides are jointly building a China-Tajikistan community with a shared future featuring eternal friendship, solidarity and mutual benefit.

“The friendship between the leaders has led to positive development in bilateral relations,” Qanoatullo Saifulloev, deputy head of the official Khovar news agency, said in an interview with Xinhua.

COOPERATION REFERENCE POINTS

In downtown Dushanbe, two imposing white buildings stand along Rudaki Avenue. The new government and parliament buildings are almost completed. They are considered monuments of practical cooperation between China and Tajikistan.

The two sides decided on the project during Rahmon's visit to China in 2017. When Xi Jinping visited Tajikistan two years later, Xi and Rahmon attended a ceremony to unveil construction models of the Chinese-aided office buildings. The two presidents were also briefed on the design plans and details of the projects.

These buildings are characterized by a blend of classical European architecture, Islamic culture and modern designs.

Yusuf Rakhmatbekzoda, deputy director of the construction project, said the completion of the two buildings will not only provide the government with a comfortable and modern office environment, but also significantly improve the capital's cityscape. “These unique structures will serve as symbols of China-Tajik friendship,” Rakhmatbekzoda said.

In 2014, the two countries signed a memorandum to build the Silk Road economic belt, making Tajikistan the first country to do so under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Xi Jinping's flagship proposal.

The BRI partnership between China and Tajikistan has produced several key projects of mutual benefit.

Take for example the Dushanbe Power Plant No. 2, a flagship program of bilateral cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative. During their visit in 2014, the two presidents attended a ceremony marking the completion of the first phase of the project and the launch of the second phase.

Since the plant was completed in late 2016, more than 700,000 local citizens of Dushanbe no longer worry about electricity shortages throughout the year, especially during the cold winter months.

In recent years, the BRI has also boosted trade between the two countries. Last year, bilateral trade reached $3.9 billion, an increase of 53.5 percent over the previous year.

“Tajikistan welcomes and supports this very wise initiative, which meets the needs of Tajikistan,” Rahmon said in an interview.

BOOKS OF TWO PRESIDENTS

The exchanges between the Chinese and Tajik peoples are ancient. Through the ancient Silk Road, the ancestors of the two nations exchanged goods and ideas and learned a lot from each other.

Xuan Zang, a prominent monk from the 7th century, and Chen Cheng, a Chinese diplomat from the Ming Dynasty, visited Central Asia as Chinese ambassadors of friendship, Xi wrote in a signed article published in Tajik media ahead of his visit to the country in 2019. “The biographies of your historical and literary figures, such as Emir Ismail Samani and famous poet Rudaki, are widely known in China.”

“The wise seek goodness and peace; only the foolish are determined to sow conflict and war,” Xi once said, quoting Rudaki's poem in his speech at the fifth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia.

The publication of the work of the two presidents in their respective countries also encouraged the exchange of ideas.

In 2019, the Tajik edition of the first volume of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China was published. According to Rahmon, this book could “help the Tajik people better understand China, President Xi's philosophy, and China's development path.”

That same year, the Chinese version of Rahmon's book, Tajiks in the Mirror of History, was published in China. Xi mentioned the book in his signed article and said the book offered “the Chinese people new perspectives on Tajikistan.”

The Chinese leader has long advocated exchanges and mutual learning between different cultures. In his view, mutual learning transcends conflicts and coexistence transcends feelings of superiority. He also called for making the BRI “a road connecting different civilizations.”

Under the Belt and Road Initiative, programs such as Confucius Institutes, Luban Workshops and the China-Tajikistan Center for Traditional Medicine have strengthened cultural encounters between the two peoples.

In his farewell to Xi Jinping at the airport after the Chinese leader's visit to Tajikistan in 2014, Rahmon said one of the main results of the visit was that he and Xi had become even closer brothers. “Good brothers walk hand in hand,” he said.