The Chinese Cultural Center in Kuwait

First column: The reading club launched by National Bank of Kuwait, in collaboration with Dhat al-Salasil, is an initiative worthy of appreciation for its support of writers and literary figures, and it should serve as a starting point for other banks in Kuwait to join the effort of supporting culture.

I read the details of the meeting published by Al-Jarida, featuring an interview by my colleague Rabih Klas with Liu Zhonghong, the Director of the Chinese Cultural Center in Kuwait. The director spoke about his desire to develop cultural, tourism, and craft relations with Kuwait, and expressed interest in a Chinese language learning program.

We emphasize here that the presence of such a center is highly important for both Kuwait and China. Many ideas could be added that might be vital in revitalizing cultural relations between the two countries. The first of these points is the exchange of translations of important books in the history of both countries, implemented through a program involving the Chinese Center in partnership with the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, the Kuwait Institute for Advanced Studies, and the Kuwait National Library. There are very important books that we hope will reach Chinese readers in fields such as history, literature, novels, folklore, poetry, politics, arts, documents, and travel accounts pertaining to Kuwait. Similarly, Chinese materials deemed important should be translated into Arabic.

We believe that establishing a Kuwaiti-Chinese partnership for translation will, over the coming years, accumulate a Kuwaiti library in Chinese and a Chinese library in Arabic, thereby providing undeniable and significant cultural benefits.

Some Kuwaiti writers have undertaken personal efforts to translate their cultural works into Chinese and other languages, but it is essential that this task be taken on by official institutions on both sides.