Major General Mohamed Abdel Wahed, an expert in Egyptian national security affairs, confirmed that Egypt has strategic relations with China and therefore there will be no “pressure cards” on it, but Cairo will do the harmonization and joint economic and strategic interests.
He added - in an interview on Al Jazeera Mubasher - that Egypt is a key partner in the Silk Road, and Chinese investments in Egypt are very large, and there is the Suez Canal, which constitutes a very important crossing for the transfer of Chinese products.
"We are celebrating the 65th anniversary of Egyptian-Chinese relations, and I imagine that discussions and harmonizations will take place to maximize the benefit of the solid bilateral relations to pressure Ethiopia to engage seriously in negotiations leading to a binding agreement on the Renaissance Dam," he added.
Does #Egypt have "pressure cards" to urge China to support the Egyptian position in the Renaissance Dam crisis?
pic.twitter.com/zNNziLngrS
- Al Jazeera Mubasher (@ajmubasher) July 18, 2021
And he added, "China has strong relations with Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, and Egypt is counting on it because it has great experience in managing dams, and it also owns many investment projects in Ethiopia, and therefore it could have taken a pressure position on Ethiopia regarding the Renaissance Dam."
And he added, "But the new world order has other criteria that began to appear in particular after the summits of the seven countries and the NATO summit, and global powers other than the United States emerged, such as Russia and China, in addition to other non-state powers such as giant multinational companies that have a role in the decision." political.”
On the reasons for China's support for the Ethiopian position, he said, "China has always evaded the role of mediation, especially with regard to water issues, specifically the Renaissance Dam, because it is a source country and it also has dams, and the balance tilts in favor of Ethiopia in the balance of profit-loss."
The expert in Egyptian national security affairs, Major General.
Mohamed Abdel Wahed: In the balance of profit and loss.. the interests of #China tend to #Ethiopia pic.twitter.com/VK9TEyKxPI
- Al Jazeera Mubasher (@ajmubasher) July 18, 2021
He explained, "China has made huge investments in the Renaissance Dam since 2011, most notably agricultural projects related to the reclamation of two million acres and the establishment of giant factories that will be powered by the electric power generated by the dam and the electric train project from Addis Ababa to Djibouti."
Yesterday, Sunday, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi confirmed to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi the firm position of Cairo on maintaining its water security and the need to reach a binding agreement on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
It is noteworthy that China is one of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, which held a session on the dam in early July, while media reports indicate that Chinese investments have been pumping in Addis Ababa and its controversial dam with Cairo for a decade.