Draft:Historical and Modern Relations between China and Yemen

Summary of China-Yemen Relations

China and Yemen have had a peaceful relationship, as they have helped each other through trading. Yemen is a much smaller country than China geographically, and economically. While China is a leading power and has been throughout much of world history, Yemen is a country that has struggled to maintain itself as a succesful country, however one of its biggest strengths is its relationship with China.

Summary Continued

Before discussing the relations of China and Yemen, it is important to review the individual accomplishments of both nations.Yemen has had many influential moments in its history, as it has many mentions any many important people from the Bible. For instance, the Three Wise Men from the Bible are believed to have originated from Yemen. In centuries past, Yemen has been the leading coffee producer in the world. Today, Yemen has had many struggles with being a successful nation. Yemen went through a 3 year civil war in recent years, and still has yet to full recover. Throughout Yemen’s history, they have struggled with economic problems that have held Yemen back from reaching world power status, but that has not been the case for China. China has a rich history, with many different rulers and dynasties thar commanded the country. Some notable inventions of China include gunpowder, paper, and digestible alcohol. Today, China is a leading power in the world, largely due to its history, and the size of the country. Many products you use in your everyday life come from China, from electronic devices, to articles of clothing, China sells many goods to other countries. This has led to much success for China in today’s market, as China made 3.71$ trillion in exports alone in 2022. While Yemen was a mostly not controlled by any one power at one time, China has many dynasties that ruled over, and expanded China throughout its history.

History of China

China’s history is vast, with much of it recorded while Yemen does not have much recorded history and has been a place of struggle for much of world history. China’s dynasties began with the Shang dynasty, which lasted from 1600 B.C. until 1050 B.C. The Shang dynasty was very successful in advancing the mathematics of the day. Throughout China’s history many different parties would rule in the form of dynasties. Throughout these dynasties China would remain a world power that many other communities in the world feared and respected. The last dynasty of China was the Qing dynasty, which ended in 1912. With this ending of dynasties, China went through a faze where they were attempting to find their next form of government. In the end, after much bloodshed, China would become a communist state, which is unlike most other world powers which are democracies. Communist China has been very successful in generating wealth for the country, as today the country is the leader in the world at exporting goods.

History of Yemen

Yemen has a deep history, dating back as far as 3000 years. During these times the kingdoms that ruled over Yemen used the spice trade to acquire wealth. Throughout Yemen’s history there has not been much continuation of which group leads the Country. This has led to Yemen today being one of the least developed countries in the world. Through trade partners such as China, Yemen looks to dig itself out of this hole.

History of Relations

China and Yemen are two very different countries, with varying scales. While China is world power with much influence over the global economy, Yemen has relatively little impact on the world as a whole, while still being very important to the people who live in and around Yemen. China and Yemen have had a peaceful relationship throughout their history, with both countries working to better each other. In recent years, China has been attempting to support Yemen though its civil war, hoping to secure a loyal trade partner once Yemen is able to correct itself economically. The history of Yemen and China is very important in understanding the full concept of their relationship. In 1958, China and Yemen signed a trust of friendship, where the more developed nation of China agreed to loan Yemen 70 million Swiss francs while the city of Beijing also loaned Yemen 16.3 million Swiss francs. With this money, China helped Yemen develop in many ways, including in technology, commercial goods, and culture. Through the loans Yemen recovered from China, Yemen was able to develop and hold its own. Yemen only became an official country in 1990, when North Yemen and South Yemen reached an agreement to unite and become the country of Yemen. Without the support of China, and other countries, Yemen likely would have never been able to succeed in its vision of becoming a united country.

Struggles within Relations

While China has tried its best to make friends with Yemen, a conflict of interests has driven China to allow Saudi Arabia to do as it pleases in Yemen. Saudi Arabia is a much larger country than Yemen with many more economic opportunities for China. Saudi Arabia and Yemen also share a border which allows Saudi Arabia to sort of bully Yemen, and better themselves. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has led many air-based campaigns that have taken the lives of at least 10,000 Yemen citizens in recent years. Although China has supported Yemen in the past, these recent attacks have gone unaided by China, as China sees Saudi Arabia as a more important trade partner than Yemen. To be clear, China did not support the attacks against Yemen, and still consider Yemen a close trade partner, however China did not look to stop the attacks against Yemen, due to fear their relations with Saudi Arabia would suffer.

Modern History

The most recent interactions between China and Yemen have been peaceful, with China looking to give aide to a struggling Yemen. In May 2023, China signed an agreement with the Houthis rebels within Yemen, stating that China would support the Houthis in it’s pursuit of oil manufacturing. Like most middle-east countries, Yemen is very rich in oil, however unlike many of its middle-eastern counterparts, Yemen has not been able to have a successful oil business throughout its country. With China recognizing and supporting the Houthis rebels, there may soon be questions about the strength of the relationship between China and Yemen’s official governments. However, there have been no public displays of displeasure on part of Yemen’s government, and more importantly for China, Saudi Arabia has also not expressed dissatisfaction.

Modern History Continued

Today, China does not seem very interested in supporting Yemen into becoming a developed and successful country. China seems to care more about their trade relations with Saudi Arabia, and China acts accordingly when it comes to foreign affairs in Yemen. Yemen has essentially no control over how China, or other countries choose to engage in trade, as even if Yemen wished to act against China in any way, the country would likely be struck in such a way that they would not be able to recover. This is largely because Yemen is not seen as a world power or a threat, and China is able to make more money trading with the much larger country of Saudi Arabia.  Seemingly, China holds almost all the power within the relationship.

Outro

China and Yemen have had a peaceful, trade based relationship throughout their histories. Today China and Yemen still conduct many trades with each other, however complications have slightly dampened the amount of trading between the two countries.

References

Relations

Matamis, Joaquin. “China’s Shifting Role in Yemen • Stimson Center.” Stimson Center, 31 Jan. 2024, www.stimson.org/2024/chinas-shifting-role-in-yemen/.

Chang, I-wei Jennifer. “China and Yemen’s Forgotten War.” United States Institute of Peace, 14 May 2022, www.usip.org/publications/2018/01/china-and-yemens-forgotten-war.

“History of Yemen.” YCA Sandwell, 3 Feb. 2019, www.yca-sandwell.org.uk/history-of-yemen/.

Milliken, Emily, et al. “What Is China Doing in Yemen?” Responsible Statecraft, 4 Sept. 2023, responsiblestatecraft.org/2023/07/13/what-is-china-doing-in-yemen/.

A&E Television Networks. (n.d.). China: Timeline. History.com. https://www.history.com/topics/asian-history/china-timeline