Reuters
China's President Hu Jintao
The following letter to the Editor was submitted by the Chinese Embassy in Jamaica, in response to an article by Dawn Ritch published last week Sunday.
This is in response to an article entitled, 'Appalling Chinese eti-quette', which appeared in The Sunday Gleaner of December 10. As some of the main points in that article are groundless, biased and irresponsible, we feel obliged to clarify the facts so as to set the record straight.
The author's assertion of the 'Appalling Chinese etiquette' is untenable, as it is based on the mere fact that several African leaders waited to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao during the recent Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.
As is known, more than 40 African state and government leaders attended the forum. Common sense tells us that, for a grand event like this, the only practical and appropriate way is for President Hu to meet African leaders one after another rather than have the latter flock to shake hands with President Hu.
Imagine the scenario when a host stands in the receiving line and greets each guest personally at a reception. No guest will feel offended at all if he/she has to line up to be welcomed. The fact that President Hu, in his capacity as Chinese head of state, met and held talks with his African counterparts, itself demonstrates that the latter were treated as equals and with due respect. So the author here is at best lacking in common sense or knowledge of the well-known Chinese hospitality.
Selling themselves
The author went even further by claiming that the Africans were selling themselves for a mess of pottage and what China preferred to hear in Africa was silence. This argument is a deliberate distortion as it neither conforms to the historical facts nor reflects the current reality of China-Africa relations.
China and Africa have enjoyed a time-honoured friendly relationship, which was fostered by Chinese and African leaders through the years. China showed sympathy for and offered unreserved support to the African people during their struggle against imperialism and colonialism and their fight for national independence. Since 1963, China has dispatched some 15,000 medical personnel to 47 African countries or regions, providing treatment to more than 170 million people. And since 1956, China has helped build 720 major projects in 49 African countries. Under the framework of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, China has waived 10.9 billion RMB yuan (about 1.38 billion US dollars) of debt owed by 31 heavily indebted and least-developed countries in Africa, offered zero-tariff treatment for 190 types of export commodities to China from 30 of the least-developed African countries, and trained over 14,600 people in different fields for Africa.
The facts speak for themselves. Sino-African cooperation has met the most urgent needs of Africa to develop national economy and improve people's living standards. It is also important to note that China's assistance to Africa is provided with full respect for the sovereignty of the recipient countries and without any political conditions attached.
Therefore, China's African policy has been well received and highly appreciated by African countries. During the recent Beijing Forum, the two sides further agreed that a new strategic partnership that pursues equality and mutual trust in politics, win-win cooperation in economy and exchanges and learning from each other in culture is in the interests of both sides.
When the author made allegations of disastrous economic and human rights consequences of Chinese investment in Africa, she is totally ignorant of or has deliberately ignored the fact that Sino-Africa cooperation has been based on equality and mutual benefits. As one example of many, by the end of 2003, PetroChina had invested US$2.7 billion in Sudan, built 1506km in oil pipeline, a crude processing plant with an annual capacity of 2.5 million tons, and several gas stations.
This not only turned Sudan from an oil-importing country to an oil-exporting country, but also ensured it has a complete oil industry system from exploration, production, refining and transport to sales. China-Africa cooperation has brought real benefit to African people and is conducive to the sustainable development of African countries.
Critics in the west
The author's comments remind us of some critics in the west that China is "colonising Africa" as it exports cheap manufactured products to African market, while taking away the continent's natural resources. But, let us hear what the Africans say about China's policy towards Africa. "China has established friendships with many countries in Africa, and is opening itself up to Africa, coming with assistance. It is cooperating with African countries on an equal basis without any desire to colonise Africa," said Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe recently.
So it is interesting to note that the allegation of "China colonising Africa" arises not in Africa, but in the west. Namibia's New Times newspaper chief, Raj Munamawa, has got it to the point by saying "China provides affordable consumer goods to black people that have been oppressed by racial segregationist policies all these years, therefore, we like China. But some people monopolising the economy don't like China, because the arrival of the Chinese makes it hard for them to make such high profits any more."
That having been said, the author's observations on the foreign policy of the sovereign states in Africa through her "western eyes" seem to show us a looming mentality of colonialism, and the arrogance and prejudice, the by-products of such mentality.
However, the establishment of a new type of strategic partnership is both the shared desire and independent choice of China and Africa. The fallacy of "China colonising Africa" will dissolve itself before the abundant fruits yielded by the China-Africa cooperation.
