China–Greece relations

Ancient Chinese people had contact with the Bactrian Greeks. Dayuan (meaning "Great Ionians"), was described in the Chinese historical works of Records of the Grand Historian and the Book of Han. It is mentioned in the accounts of the famous Chinese explorer Zhang Qian in 130 BCE and the numerous embassies that followed him into Central Asia. The country of Dayuan is generally accepted as relating to the Ferghana Valley, and its Greek city Alexandria Eschate. These Chinese accounts describe the Dayuan as urbanized dwellers with Caucasian features, living in walled cities and having "customs identical to those of the Greco-Bactrians". Strabo writes that Bactrian Greeks "extended their empire even as far as the Seres (Chinese) and the Phryni".[4] The War of the Heavenly Horses (104–101 BC) was a war between Dayuan and the Han dynasty.

Following the ancient Roman embassies to China recorded in ancient Chinese histories, there appear to have been contacts between the Byzantine Empire and several dynasties of China, beginning with the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD).[5] From Chinese records it is known that Michael VII Doukas (Mie li sha ling kai sa 滅力沙靈改撒) of Fu lin (拂菻; i.e. Byzantium) dispatched a diplomatic mission to China that eventually arrived in 1081, during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Song dynasty (960-1279 AD), centuries before Marco Polo's expedition.[6] Kublai Khan, the Mongol-ruler who founded the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368 AD) of China not only maintained correspondence with the Byzantine Greeks but hosted some of them at his court in Khanbaliq (modern Beijing). The History of Yuan (chapter 134) records that a certain Ai-sie (transliteration of either Joshua or Joseph) from the country of Fu lin (i.e. the Byzantine Empire), initially in the service of Güyük Khan, was well-versed in Western languages and had expertise in the fields of Greek medicine and astronomy that convinced Kublai Khan to offer him a position as the director of medical and astronomical boards.[7] Kublai Khan eventually honored Ai-sie with the noble title of Prince of Fu lin (Chinese: 拂菻王; Fú lǐn wáng).[7] In his biography within the History of Yuan his children are mentioned by their Chinese names, which bear similarities to the Christian names Elias (Ye-li-ah), Luke (Lu-ko), and Antony (An-tun), with a daughter named A-na-si-sz.[7]

Τhe Sino-Hellenic contacts since Hellenistic times has recently been reinforced by the interdisciplinary study of prestige gold provided which a new interpretive framework for understanding trans-cultural contact between Han China and the Hellenistic world. The contextual analysis of the gold artefacts with foreign features presented in the current paper shows that the quest for exotica along with the desire for “heavenly horses” among the ruling elites acted as the driving force that led to an unprecedented extent of imperial expansion of the Han court in Central Asia, as well as the establishment of a vast trading network during the first century BCE.[8] Today these ancient relations are unfolded and strengtjened with the Sino-Hellenic Academic Project.[9]

During the Korean War the two countries were enemies and their forces fought each other. The Greek Expeditionary Force was part of the UN forces.

In 1955 Beata Kitsikis founded in Athens the Greece-P.R. of China Association. Her husband, Polytechnicum professor and an EDA leader and member of Parliament, Nicolas Kitsikis, helped her in her endeavor, thus establishing the first unofficial relations between Greece and the People's Republic of China. Their son, Dimitri Kitsikis a sinologist, professor at the University of Ottawa, Canada, often traveled to China establishing close relations with Chairman Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Zhou Enlai and in 2007 wrote, in Greek, an extensive "Comparative History of Greece and China from Antiquity to the Present Day".

Both countries established diplomatic relations on June 6, 1972. The late Prime Minister of Greece Konstantinos Karamanlis visited China in 1979 and was received by China's leader at that time Hua Guofeng. Konstantinos Karamanlis was the first visiting head of Greek government.

Andreas Papandreou, who came to power in 1981, aggressively courted China as part of his policy of finding allies beyond Greece's traditional partners in Western Europe and the US to confront Turkey over the Cyprus and Aegean disputes. His April 1986 visit to Beijing, followed by the visit to Athens of Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang (the first such visit by a Chinese head of government), were important milestones in developing bilateral relations. Although Papandreou was able to earn diplomatic support from Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiaoping on some of his initiatives, the more long-lasting impact of this visit was felt in the economic and commercial fields, especially in shipping.[2]

China currently has 51% ownership in the Port of Piraeus through COSCO.

In 2014, 78 Chinese citizens were among those evacuated from Libya by the Greek navy frigate Salamis. China thanked Greece for its help.[10]

In 2017, Greece, under Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, prevented the European Union from issuing statements condemning Chinese aggression in the South China Sea and its human rights record, moves widely attributed as a response to Chinese investment in the Port of Piraeus.[11][12][13]

On the 12th of April, 2019, Greece officially joined China's 'Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries', becoming the 17th European Nation to join the initiative, making it 17+1.[14] This move has further developed relations between China and Greece. The hope is for an Athens-Budapest rail line, going through Belgrade and Skopje.[15]

In 2019 Bank of China opened its first branch in Greece.[16]

Although China and Greece were enemies in the early years of the Cold War, with their militaries directly confronting each other in the Korean War, many Greek shipowners greatly helped the Chinese Communist regime of Mao Zedong during these same years by breaking the trade embargo imposed on China by most Western countries (Greece among them) and secretly carrying cargoes to Chinese ports. During the Korean War, freight rates rocketed as demand for supplies reached enormous heights. Greek shipowners made their tonnage available to Mao's government, in a win-win situation, as Mao successfully broke the embargo and secured vital supplies while the shipowners enjoyed excellent profits.[17]

The most prominent example was that of Aristotle Onassis, who used American-made ships (the T2 Tankers) of his private fleet (then the largest privately owned fleet in the world) flying the Honduran, Panamanian and Liberian flags to transport cargoes to Chinese ports. In a similar operation coordinated with the Chinese Communist intelligence services, Onassis used his tankers to transport petroleum to China, in ships flying the Saudi flag.[17]