On August 3, 2011, 83-year-old former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was put on trial, lying on a hospital bed an iron cage in a Cairo courtroom. Zhang Zhongxiang, Deputy Director of the Department of the West Asian and African Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, believes that the Mubarak trial will not only aggravate conflict among Egyptian people, but also complicate the regional tensions and chaos in the Middle East and North Africa. His thoughts are as follows:

Six months has passed ever since former Egyptian President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak was forced from office by mass demonstrations. The military that took power has already released a timetable for parliamentary and presidential elections, but the rivalry of political parties goes on. The political situation is still in turmoil. 

 Mubarak handed over power to the military peacefully. However, he is now put on trial in court, lying on a hospital bed inside a cage. The fate of the former Egyptian president, who ruled the country for 30 years, has drawn worldwide attention. There is no tradition in Egyptian history that a former president is put on trial. On one hand, putting Mubarak on trial shows that Egypt is determined to follow the path of democracy; but on the other hand, the impact may be quite complicated.

 During his 30-year reign, Mubarak was guilty of such as corruption and cronyism, suppression of the opposition and trying to transfer power to his son. However, he was also a former high-ranking general who won many victories, and a good president who made every effort to make the country prosperous. There is no doubt that even today Mubarak still has supporters in Egypt. Hence, the trial will deepen the rift among Egyptians, and worsen the contradictions between Mubarak's supporters and opponents. The trial has seen Mubarak's supporters and opponents openly fighting in the streets and being kept apart by police at the trial.  

The biggest beneficiary of the trial is the Muslim Brotherhood, which was suppressed under emergency laws during Mubarak's presidency. The Muslim Brotherhood has subsequently formed a new party – Freedom and Justice Party, and confidently announced that they would seize 45 to 50 percent of the seats in the parliamentary elections this September.

Mubarak's trial is also risky for the military council. After he resigned on February 11, 2011, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces took over power.  The April 6 Youth Movement demonstrates that the democrats were dissatisfied that the military took power. They said that they would launch a second revolution to push forward the democratic movement in Egypt and to completely break with the Mubarak era. The military did everything possible to control the situation and the course of political reform, including caging Mubarak in court, hoping this will pacify the democrats and buy them some time. Mubarak's trial may develop into a trial of the military themselves, since Mubarak's previous subordinate heads the military. Democrats have already shown their discontent toward Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. 

Mubarak's trial is Egypt's internal affair and is the culmination of the rivalry of the main political parties, rather than a show deliberately performed for West Asian and North African countries. The trial is also not the best gift to the people in Syria, Libya and Yemen as some media reported, but there is no denying that the trial has some impact on the situation in the Middle East and North Africa. 

The trial sent a clear message to the leaders of the countries in that region that are still in turmoil – once losing power, no matter what you've done in office, you will be at the mercy of the opposition. It is reasonable that people in the West Asian and North African region demand political reform and an improvement of their living conditions. However, Western countries often impose their own values on the people there, backing one group against another, which is the main reason for the area's chaos and turmoil. It is crucial to respect the choices of the people of every nation, which is as important as political and national reconciliation.

As an important country in the West Asian and North African region, Egypt enjoys over 5,000 years of ancient civilization, and thus has rich political wisdom. No matter who takes power, the leader should strive to play Egypt's critical role in the Middle East and North Africa. 

After Mubarak's fall, Egypt's transitional government has made several moves to change the one-sided approach and show some flexibility. On February 20, 2011, Egypt allowed two Iranian warships to pass through the Suez Canal, the first time an Iranian warship entered the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal ever since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. On May 25, 2011, Egypt announced the opening of the Rafah port to the Gaza Strip, trying to find a new balance between Israel and the Palestinians. The transitional government also opposes external interference. On July 20, Egypt's Deputy Defense Minister Sahin, member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, told a press conference that the military would not allow foreign election monitoring. 

China and Egypt enjoys a long tradition of friendship, and Egypt is the first African country that established diplomatic relations with China. In 2009, the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation was held in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. China supports African countries to choose their own paths of development and doesn't interfere with their internal affairs. Regardless of how the regime changes in Egypt, as long as the principles of friendship, equality and mutual benefit remain unchanged, Sino-Egyptian relations will continue to develop.