东地中海远征之都：为什么土耳其对中国很重要，反之亦然（英）

Working Paper SWP Working Papers are online publications within the purview of the respective Research Division. Unlike SWP Research Papers and SWP Comments they are not reviewed by the Institute. CENTRE FOR APPLIED TURKEY STUDIES (CATS) | WP NR. 04, OCTOBER 2021Expeditionary Capital in the Eastern Mediterranean: Why Turkey Matters to China and Vice Versa Jens Bastian Contents Abstract 3 Introduction 4 China’s maritime outreach in the Eastern Mediterranean 5 China’s expanding investment footprint in Turkey 8 The reverse question: What is Turkey’s engagement in China? 12 China’s ‘soft power’ diplomacy in Turkey 14 The ‘Middle Corridor’ between China and Turkey 17 Concluding considerations 20 References 23 List of Tables 26 List of Abbreviations 27 3 Abstract This Working Paper explores the nature of Sino-Turkish rapprochement over the course of the past decade. China’s footprint in Turkey is expanding and diversifying across sectors of the country’s political economy. The rapprochement between Beijing and Ankara is mutual, driven inter alia as much by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ambitious infrastructure agenda as by President Xi Jinping’s flagship foreign policy agenda, the Belt and Road Initiative. The momentum of Sino-Turkish cooperation is only belatedly being identified as a policy challenge for decision makers in Washington D.C., in Brussels as well as in Berlin and Moscow. Introduction Over the course of the past decade the People’s Republic of China (PRC, henceforth China) has firmly planted its flag along the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean. Its visibility stretches from maritime investments in Greece over extensive lending facilities for Turkey to increased economic cooperation with Israel. More generally, the Eastern Mediterranean can be seen as a conduit for China’s maritime and land-based supply chains (section 1) from and towards other destinations in Europe, most prominently Brussels, Berlin, Vienna, Budapest and Rome. The key variable for China within this pass-through region is Turkey. In light of its size and geographic location Turkey has become an important destination for Chinese capital exports (section 2). Ankara and Istanbul also serve as a bridge within a wider connectivity agenda under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Turkey’s Middle Corridor narrative (section 5). As we shall discuss in the course of this Working Paper, there are an increasing number of ‘Road’ and ‘Corridor’ references in Sino-Turkish cooperation, from the original BRI over reviving the ancient Silk Road to the newest version under the heading Health Silk Road. The Iron Silk Road and the Digital Silk Road have recently been added to this encompassing narrative. These ‘Road’ references suggest in our view that China’s launch of the original BRI in 2013 has reached a critical mass and is now being supplemented with references to new interconnecting policy areas. This Working Paper wi