BEIJING, APRIL 11: Chinese President Jiang Zemin sets off on a five nation tour Wednesday taking in the Middle East, Europe and Africa to push China's attempts to counter Western control of world affairs. Jiang starts his latest foray with the first ever visit to Israel by a Chinese leader between April 12 and 16 just as the United States is voicing deep concern about Chinese-Israeli military cooperation. During the stay, he will also make a brief trip to the Palestinian territories and hop across the border to Egypt for a summit with President Hosni Mubarak in the Port of Alexandria. From the Middle East, Jiang will head to Turkey and then Greece between April 21 and 24, before making the first ever trip by a Chinese President to South Africa between April 24 and 27. Professor Lau Siu-kai, a foreign policy expert at the Chinese University in Hong Kong, said the trip could be seen as part of China's ongoing efforts to build consensus against Western domination. China was unnerved by NATO's military action in Kosovo last year in the name of human rights, bypassing the veto of Russia and China in the United Nations Security Council, he said. "The foreign policy of China is simple, to try to build a multi-polar world free of domination by the United States and the West," he said. "On the one hand, he is trying to raise China's profile on the world stage following the end of the Cold War while at the same time, pushing respect for the medium of the United Nations," he added. While Jiang's discussions in the Middle East will cover the region's troubled peace process, Lau said China did not have the clout to be a major player. In Israel, discussions are also set to cover the growing and secretive military relationship between the two countries worth billions of dollars and culminating in the proposed sale by Israel of two airborne warning and control systems (AWACS). The United States has urged Israel to cancel the deal, saying it will alter the strategic balance between China and Taiwan, but so far there has been no indication Israel will bow to the pressure. Robert Karniol, Bangkok-based Asia-Pacific Editor of Jane's Defence Weekly, said the military ties dated from before the two countries forged diplomatic relations in 1992, and involve several key programmes. "It's been quite substantial for some time, dating at least from the mid-80s and perhaps before that, and has raised US concerns several times," he said. He said the AWACS together with a new generation of Russian fighters would be a significant factor in countering Taiwan's current air superiority over China. Karniol added, "Israeli assistance in developing China's new Song class diesel-electric patrol submarine is a real source of concern to Washington." In Turkey, Jiang is likely to push Ankara to rein in groups offering support to Muslim separatists in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang while at the same time building ties with a key NATO member. Relations between Greece and China have expanded markedly since Greece - though a member of NATO - opposed last year's NATO bombing of Yugoslavia during which the Chinese embassy in Belgrade was hit. "I think in these two countries, China sees NATO members who are also ill at ease with some of the policies being pushed by the United States," said Professor Lau. Jiang's trip to South Africa follows former South African President Nelson Mandela's visit to Beijing last year, and precedes a meeting of African ministers in Beijing in the autumn. The October meeting of African foreign and economic ministers is seen as an attempt by Beijing to boost Sino-African economic and political cooperation and cement China's leading position among developing nations. South Africa only initiated diplomatic relations with China on January 1, 1998, after severing official ties with Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province.
