Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was awarded the title of “honorary professor” at China’s elite Peking University on Wednesday during a high-profile state trip.
University secretary Hao Ping awarded Raisi for his efforts in strengthening ties between the two countries, according to the Mehr news agency, which monitors news from the Middle East.
In this photo released by the official website of the Iranian presidential office, President Ebrahim Raisi, left, shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in an official welcoming ceremony in Beijing on Tuesday, February 14, 2023. (Office of the Iranian Presidency via AP)
Raisi addressed faculty and students, telling them that forming a new world order requires distance from unilateralism – a veiled reference to the United States and its Western allies.
Hi noted the historic bilateral relationship and drew comparisons between the ancient Silk Road and China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the massive infrastructure project to connect Asia to Europe.
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Peking University, founded in Beijing in 1898, is regarded as one of China’s top universities and ranks among the top 50 schools globally.
Raisi’s visit to Beijing concluded on Thursday, during which both sides affirmed close economic and political ties and their rejection of Western standards on human rights and democracy.
FILE: In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, visiting Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, right, walks with Chinese President Xi Jinping after passing an honor guard during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall del Popolo in Beijing, Tuesday 14 February. 2023. (Yan Yan/Xinhua via AP, File)
Most of the China-Iran joint statement emphasized strong political and economic ties, the pursuit of peace and justice in the Middle East, and denuclearization despite Tehran’s suspected drive to produce atomic weapons.
In a previous meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Raisi expressed support for China’s crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong and calls for democratic self-rule in Taiwan.
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China and Iran present themselves, together with Moscow, as counterweights to American might, and have given tacit and, in Iran’s case, material support to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“China supports Iran in safeguarding national sovereignty” and in “resisting unilateralism and bullying,” Xi said in a statement reported by China’s state TV on its website.
Xi and Raisi have participated in the signing of 20 cooperation agreements, including on trade and tourism, the Chinese government announced. These come in addition to a 25-year strategic agreement signed in 2021 to cooperate in the development of oil, industry and other fields.
China is a major buyer of Iranian oil and a major source of investment.
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Iran has struggled for years under trade and financial sanctions imposed by Washington and other Western governments. The US government cut off Iran’s access to the network connecting global banks in 2018.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
