On March 3, AlMamlaka TV’s "10 o'clock News" program  aired an exclusive interview with the Chinese Ambassador to Jordan H.E. Chen Chuandong.

The interview transcript is as follows:

Host: Your excellency, it’s a pleasure to have you with us today. I would like to thank you for this interview with Almamlaka TV. Please allow me to ask the first question. The Jordanian-Chinese relationship is going from strength to strength. What’s unique and special about this bilateral relationship?

Amb. Chen: It’s a great pleasure to speak to you here at Almamlaka TV. First of all, we’d like to wish all our Jordanian friends a very blessed Ramadan. Ramadan Kareem.

We established our diplomatic relations in 1977, we are going to celebrate our 48th anniversary after one month. In the past 47 years, our relationship as you said has grown from strength to strength. We have a number of reasons for that. First, the political commitment from our leaders, His Majesty King Abdullah II has visited China 8 times after he assumed his constitutional powers, and the last time he was there, he announced together with President Xi Jinping to upgrade our relationship to a strategic partnership, in my understanding it goes beyond the bilateral relationship. And we have long term friendship among our peoples. We also share many same cultural traditions and positions on international and regional issues.

For us, a very salient feature is that we have strong trade and economic relations. Last year, our trade recorded 5.37 billion USD, and it actually has been growing for the last couple of decades. I think one of the main drivers is the complementarity of our economies and industries, and also a very important factor is our friendship among the people. We trust each other, which means the business and trade can go more smoothly. And we have great potential. Traditionally, we have had cooperation in the energy sector.

Host: This is what I’m going to ask next about the areas of the joint cooperation between China and Jordan.

Amb. Chen: On political relations, we support each other. For example, we have been supporting Jordan’s stability and security and also the Palestinian issue. We are grateful for Jordan’s firmness in the One China policy. I think it's mutual support and mutual trust. And then in the economic and trade areas which will elaborate a little bit later. And culture, I believe that we have similar cultural traditions. I have been here almost four and a half years, everyday I feel very much home because Jordanians and Chinese are very much alike. Like we have very strong family bonds, and we respect our elderlies, and our grandparents take care of our grandchildren, which you don’t see very often in other places. Ultimately, I think it is very important that we have strategic guidance from our leaders who have maintained very close relations, and our ministers have been meeting and talking on the phone regularly. I would say this is an all-round relationship, and the growth is in every area and each aspect of our relationship.

Host: When you look at the future of this relationship and the investment opportunities in terms of Jordan attracting Chinese investors to come to Jordan, we have a lot of opportunities, and we are always open widely to receiving such creative bodies and efforts and experience by the Chinese government and people.

Amb. Chen: When Chinese investors look at Jordan, they're looking for advantages, there are few of them they have been telling me: First, the strategic location, Jordan is the gateway to Europe, Africa, and of course to the Region. Secondly, Jordan offers great talents, a Chinese businessman told me that he finds a extremely welcoming environment for investors. 

We have a number of success stories which would have the word of mouth that would spread and attract more Chinese investors. I'll give you a few examples. For example, the Arab Potash Company’s biggest shareholder is a Chinese company. After they acquired the biggest stake in the company, you see the production, sales and profits of APC growing year by year. This is mutually beneficial, investors have good return, and at the same time, it also helps the Chinese food security as we have fertilizer imported from Jordan. In the energy sector, we have the Attarat Power Plant which uses the local resource, oil shale for electricity generation. It generates about 15% of all electricity produced in Jordan, which is very important for energy security because you don't have to worry about importing energy for electricity. There are others like garment factories and ceramic factory everywhere in Jordan, like Irbid, Amman and Karak. They create jobs for the local community, and at the same time they are some of the leading exporters for Jordan. So I think this good reputation means more people are coming, and we have inquiries almost every day from Chinese businesses asking what they can do here in Jordan. And His Majesty has been particularly making great personal efforts to bring Chinese investors to Jordan. So we're very optimistic about the future opportunities for cooperation and bringing new investors.

Host: That's very good. What’s the role of China in supporting Jordan’s vision of economic modernization?

Amb. Chen: Actually, modernization is the keyword for both China and Jordan. Both our countries have embarked on a second centenary journey, I think that's the same buzzword in Jordan. So modernization is a common goal for us in our second centenary journey. We think that we can do a lot. For example, we can expand our cooperation in traditional areas, I mentioned energy, and infrastructure building, and we have new areas that we can tap into,for example, the digital economy, tourism, education, modern manufacturing, and AI. Everywhere I go people here in Jordan talk about AI, even the judicial system has been talking about using AI to improve their efficiency. There is a lot of potential, and what we can do at the government level is try to encourage people and give an enabling environment for investors.

Host: Your excellency, how do you see Jordan’s role as a keyadvocator for the place of Palestinian statehood and maintain a strong position on refusingtoforced displacement of Palestinians?

Amb. Chen: I think China's view on the Palestinian issue is very similar to or even identical to that of Jordan. For example, from the outset of the current round of the Gaza conflict, we have made it very clear and our position has been very firm. We emphasize 4 points: number one, immediate and complete lasting ceasefire; number two, no forced displacement of Palestinians; number three, unimpeded and safe humanitarian supplies for Gazans; and number four, revitalizing the vision of the Two-State solution, to give the political horizon, and making sure that future arrangements in Gaza will be respecting the will of the Palestinian people. I believe these are almost identical views of our Jordanian friends.

We commend Jordan for its leading role, not only for strong advocacy by His Majesty and Minister Safadi, all Jordanian officials and people who have expressed their support, political support, and moral support. I think that has worked. If you look at the public opinion around the world from the beginning of the conflict up to now, you see a big shift. I think that's partly due to the efforts of His Majesty and the government and the people of Jordan. And also we commend Jordan for the leading efforts in providing humanitarian assistance to Gaza. For example, not long after the conflict broke out, I was talking to some of my colleagues in the diplomat community about the possibility of airdropping, everybody said no, you can’t do that. But Jordan did it. His Majesty, and members of the royal family, they were on the plane. So I think that's not only the shipping itself, it galvanized the international community to do more. 

China also has been working with our Jordanian partners, including the Hashemite Charity Organization to provide assistance to Gaza. So a few days ago, we dispatched about 60,000 food parcels to Gazans. But unfortunately, we see very disturbing news that the access has become more restrictive. We urge all parties to fully implement the ceasefire agreements in Gaza.

And we also work very closely with Jordan, at the Security Council, the Human Rights Council, and the General Assembly to make sure that we will have the Two-State Solution, as His Majesty mentioned, the finishing line for the people in the region.

Host: But your excellency, how could China and Jordan collaborate to counter Israeli  unilateral actions that undermine the Two-State Solution. For example, settlement activities are still going on in the West Bank.  Jenin, Tulkarm, and other cities in the West Bank, the escalating is going on right now in these cities. What can you do as a member of the UN Security Council?

Amb. Chen: We believe that what the Israeli military is doing in the West Bank is against international law and violates UN resolutions including Security Council resolutions, and also the expanding of settlements in the West Bank. I think the international community should do more to stop this. We have been working with Arab countries and other countries in the Security Council. I think everybody should do its part, especially all countries in the Middle East, should be on the same page, making sure that we’ll stop the illegal actions by all parties, and protect the civilians, and make sure that UN resolutions will be implemented on the ground.

I think eventually if you look at the UN resolutions that were adopted over 70 years ago, the Two-State Solution, now you only see the state of Israel, the state of Israel has existed for decades, but the Palestinian people are still deprived of their statehood. That is the root cause of the Palestinian issue, the lack of opportunity for Palestinians, especially young people, to see the political horizon and have their own statehood. So we should work at the bilateral, regional, and international levels.

I know that some people want to have an economic solution instead of political solution. This does not work. If you talk about the future of Gaza, it should be based on the Two-State Solution. That means Gaza and the West Bank are all inseparable lands for the Palestinians. They should not be subjected to political trade-offs. They should not be bargaining chips. So I think if everybody holds ground and stands firm on this position, and we work together, we will be able to move the process forward.

Host: That's excellent. Please allow me to speak honestly with you, Your Excellency. Critics argue China's close ties with Israel undermine its pro-Palestinian stands. How does China respond to that? 

Amb. Chen: We've enjoyed good relations with Arabs including Jordanians, and also traditionally with Jews. During the Second World War, many Jews, when they were persecuted in Europe, they fled to China. And we provided refuge for the Jewish people. So traditionally we have been very close. But that does not mean that we don't hold our principles. Because China, like Jordan, is a country of principle. Even we have close ties between the people and we have cooperation with Israel, this does not mean that we give up our principles. If you look at our voting track records at the Security Council, you will see that for China, what was most important is we tell right from wrong, it’s not the bilateral relation that we judge everything.

Host: But still, people are looking at these efforts cause it remain relatively modest.

Amb. Chen: We are very frank with Israelifriends, both bilateral and at the Security Council. If you read our statements, we've made very strong statements, to be honest even stronger than some Arab countries. Because we believe that if you don't hold these principles, how can you justify that you are advocating multilateralism? We call it true multilateralism. That means you don't use it for your own benefit. You don’t say okay,this is multilateralism if it’s in your interest, and this is not, I’m not obeying. We should obey the same rules and the same rules should apply to everyone, including Israel and any other group in the region.

Host: But as you know Your Excellency, there are some double standards.

Amb. Chen: It's very unfortunate that we see double standards everywhere. At the Security Council, where you have one single member who has been blocking all these resolutions that have been calling for ceasefire for the last 15 months. There are countries in the Human Rights Council, who say this is not in compliance with some of the legal hurdles for certain acts that violate international law and international humanitarian law.

We have been calling out to these countries that you should not apply double standards. I think His Majesty was very eloquent when he spoke in Cairo at the summit shortly after the conflict broke out. He said what happens makes Arabs feel that Arabs’ lives don’t matter as much as others. I think that was a very strong message that should be heard, and that should touch the human conscience of everybody. Because this is not your national interest, this is human conscience.

Host: As you just mentioned Your Excellency, Israel blocked aid trucks from entering the Gaza Strip, the consequences of such a move, and what to do to keep the aid flowing and a sustainable ceasefire?

Amb. Chen: We urge all parties including Israel to implement the ceasefire agreement in real earnest. You should not make political gains or play political games out of this. No country should be doing that, because we're talking about lives. If you look at the numbers in Gaza of the casualties and the deaths of women and children, they are not only numbers. They are human lives. There are somebody's brother, sister, father, mother and children. So as human beings, I think we should have a basic conscience, not only for your countrymen, but for everyone in the world. I said a few days ago when I was dispatching aid for Gaza at the Hashemite Charity Organization, everybody in the region has the same legal right, Muslim, Jews, Christians. And if we all think as human beings, we will come to the same conclusion that every single life matters. So the international community, every country, especially the major players who have influence over Israel, should work harder to push for unimpeded access for humanitarian supplies. And China will continue to do that.