Khalid El Berhli, Director General of Assahifa, said that “the time has come for China not to remain a mere witness to many international events, but rather to be an actor in them, including the Sahara issue, so that matters do not slide into hard chaos in the region after all the lines of creative chaos have already been crossed.”
El Berhli made his remarks during the Regional Cooperation Forum on the “Belt and Road,” organized by People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, on September 16–17 in Kunming, Yunnan Province, under the theme “Shared Media Responsibility for Exchanges and Mutual Learning Among Civilizations.”
He stressed that “China is an economic and military power with cultural wealth, a population of more than 1.4 billion people, and is among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council with veto power. For this reason, it must assume its historical responsibility by becoming a positive actor in resolving many of the ‘frozen’ crises across the world, including the Sahara issue.”
The Director General of Assahifa pointed out that “North Africa has been experiencing a political dispute for half a century, namely the Sahara issue, which has sparked successive crises between Morocco and Algeria. This dispute has undermined the region and made it one of the least integrated regions in the world economically and politically, despite the cultural proximity of its peoples.” He warned: “This dispute could spiral out of control into a military confrontation between the two countries, which could even undermine China’s own interests in the region along the ‘Silk Road’ it is drawing in the context of its global economic expansion.”
El Berhli underlined that “China can do much, as both Morocco and Algeria are signatories to the Belt and Road Initiative. In Algeria, China is involved in multi-billion-dollar infrastructure projects since the country joined the initiative in 2018. On the other side, Morocco was the first Maghreb country to join the initiative in 2017, and China ranks among the largest investors in the Kingdom with major projects in renewable energies, electric car batteries, high-speed rail, and telecommunications.”
He added: “All these economic factors can reflect on political decision-making, making China an active player in the Sahara issue, especially with a decisive UN Security Council meeting on the matter scheduled for October. This could be a historic opportunity for China to use its influence and its ‘historical wisdom’ to contribute actively and positively to resolving a conflict that has drained the region with separatist demands, creating unstable conditions among Maghreb states.”
The Director General of Assahifa emphasized: “The time has come for some countries, including China, not just to manage problems but to find solutions to them. China itself suffers from separatist movements lacking historical legitimacy, and it knows that unresolved conflicts fuel extremism and security failures. It would be a historic initiative if China made its voice in the Security Council strong and effective to close a file that lies along the Belt and Road. By closing it, China would open a more confident and stable future for the peoples of North Africa.”
El Berhli concluded: “China is an economic powerhouse with a GDP of $18.4 trillion. It is also a military power with more than two million active soldiers and nearly half a million reservists across land, sea, and air units, in addition to a massive navy—the largest in the world in terms of numbers—and a defense budget of $245.7 billion this year. Coupled with the rich history of a nation with deep culture and heritage, and with significant political weight internationally, all these factors lead us today to call on China to contribute to building a mechanism for a new global order. China should be a key player in shaping the future, ending conflicts, and becoming a source of trust between nations in a world that has lost confidence in Western powers and is in dire need of alternatives.”
