In this powerful interview on BreakThrough News, Fred M’membe (leader of the Socialist Party of Zambia) explodes the myth of Chinese colonialism in Zambia. He states: “China has never threatened our independence. We’ve never been subjected to any form of mistreatment or exploitation by China, but we can’t say the same about the US.”
M’membe recalls that China was a key supporter of post-liberation Zambia, providing both economic aid and military equipment to defend against the attacks of the apartheid regime in South Africa. He says that Zambia turned to the US for support but was turned away; China was a true friend, even making enormous sacrifices to build the Tazara Railway, which was essential for the country’s development.
He compares the US’s strategy of domination with China’s strategy of solidarity and friendship: “The US supported the apartheid regimes in South Africa and Rhodesia. The US has been involved in reactionary coups and assassinations all over Africa, including the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the overthrow of Kwame Nkrumah, the assassination of Muammar Gaddafi. China has never participated in any coup, has never killed an African.”
Referencing the accusations of a “Chinese debt trap”, M’membe points out that China only holds 10 percent of Zambia’s debt. And what have Chinese loans been used for? Hydropower stations, airports, roads, water systems, hospitals, schools, government buildings. “The debt problem we have is the debt we owe to Western institutions, that’s 70 percent. The China debt trap narrative is a lie.”
Category: Africa
The long-standing friendship between the Chinese PLA and the South African liberation forces
We are pleased to republish the following article that provides rare detail of the long-standing and sincere support provided by the People’s Republic of China to the armed struggle waged by South Africa’s national liberation movements to overthrow the racist apartheid regime.
It was originally published on IOL (Independent Online), a major South African news website, on August 1 2022, marking the 95th anniversary of the founding of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and was co-authored by Mbuelo Musi and Cedric Masters, who were respectively members of uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the armed wing of the African National Congress of South Africa (ANC), and the Azanian People’s Liberation Army (APLA, formerly known as Poqo), the armed wing of the Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC). Such collaboration is not only noteworthy in itself – it also enables a more comprehensive account of the totality of China’s long-term commitment to South African liberation.
The authors note that China’s support for the armed struggle dates back more than six decades, to October 1961, following the Sharpeville Massacre, when the apartheid regime killed 65 peaceful protestors, injured many more, and banned the organisations of the liberation movement.
The first group of MK trainees stayed in China from November 1961 to December 1962, in which time they met Chairman Mao Zedong on two occasions. The article notes the significance of the links between the Chinese and South African communist parties in facilitating this relationship. China’s support for MK from its inception was first discussed by Chairman Mao and visiting SACP leaders Yusuf Dadoo and Vella Pillay.
The article also highlights the training received by APLA cadres in the 1970s, which was notable for the evident degree of attention given by the Chinese instructors to the actual conditions and circumstances of South Africa. It also notes that the training provided in China itself, “constituted only a small portion of the PLA’s support”, it being complemented, for example, by training in African countries, including Ghana and Congo (Brazzaville).
In conclusion the authors note that the training provided by China to comrades of both organisations has also benefited the state and non-state institutions they have served since the end of apartheid.
Reading this article one can better understand why President Xi Jinping describes the ties between South Africa and China as a “special bond of comrades plus brothers.”
The occasion of the 95th Anniversary of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) provides us, former members of the South African Liberation Movement, with a perfect opportunity to reflect on our experience, growth and military careers in the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) since those far-off days of our training by PLA instructors.
The training also benefited those who pursued civilian careers in democratic South Africa and elsewhere. Mbulelo Musi, National Political Commissar of MK Liberation War Veterans (MKLWV) and Major-General (Retired) Cedric Masters a former APLA operative recount the long-standing relations between the PLA and South African freedom fighters.
The politico-military relations between the People’s Republic of China and the ANC-led MK would be over 60 years today, dating back to October 1961. Historically, it was in October 1961 in China that these military relations began. This was after the then apartheid cruel minority system had unleashed brutal repression and banned all forms of protests.
It had just committed a massacre in Sharpeville, which led to the killing of over 65 people, and the injury and arrests of many. Organisations of the people such as the ANC and the PAC were banned and were thus forced to declare the armed Struggle against the racist regime. The apartheid colonial system had declared war against the majority of the people of SA.
Continue reading The long-standing friendship between the Chinese PLA and the South African liberation forces
Key facts the US deliberately ignores about African debt
This important article, first published in Xinhua on 7 February 2023, takes up the question of Africa’s debt crisis, which has been a hot topic particularly in the light of US treasury secretary Janet Yellen’s recent visit to Zambia, in which she attempted to pin blame for the crisis onto China. This connects to an ongoing slander campaign about “Chinese debt traps” – a campaign which seeks both to divert attention away from the West’s horrifying record of trapping the developing world in debt, and to weaken the bonds of solidarity between China and the countries of the Global South.
The article cites a report published last year by Debt Justice, a British NGO, showing that only 12 percent of the external debt of African countries is owed to Chinese lenders, with much of the rest being owed to Western private lenders and multilateral institutions. Furthermore, the interest rates on Chinese loans is on average around half that of the interest charged by Western private lenders. Tim Jones, head of policy at Debt Justice, is quoted: “Western leaders blame China for debt crises in Africa, but this is a distraction. The truth is their own banks, asset managers and oil traders are far more responsible, but the G7 (the Group of Seven) are letting them off the hook.” Indeed, China has been an ardent supporter of the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative, reaching agreements with 19 African countries on debt relief and suspending the most debt service payments of any G20 member.
China’s loans to Africa are typically directed towards key infrastructure projects, with the aim of helping African countries to break out of the cycle of underdevelopment in which they have been locked as a result of centuries of colonialism and neocolonialism. Sustainable modernisation will bring tremendous benefit to the peoples of the continent, and will create conditions such that it will no longer be necessary to take out predatory loans.
Like many senior U.S. officials who have visited Africa, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen did not fail to target China and raise concerns about China’s role in the debt problem during a recent visit to the continent.
While hyping up the bizarre “Chinese debt trap,” the U.S. officials deliberately ignored some key facts about African debt.
Who holds most African debt?
According to the World Bank’s International Debt Statistics, multilateral financial institutions and commercial creditors hold nearly three-quarters of Africa’s total external debt.
A report published last July by the British NGO Debt Justice showed that 12 percent of the external debt of African countries is owed to Chinese lenders, compared to 35 percent to Western private lenders. The average interest rate of these private loans is 5 percent, compared with 2.7 percent for loans from Chinese public and private lenders.
“Western leaders blame China for debt crises in Africa, but this is a distraction. The truth is their own banks, asset managers and oil traders are far more responsible, but the G7 (the Group of Seven) are letting them off the hook,” said Tim Jones, head of policy at Debt Justice.
Continue reading Key facts the US deliberately ignores about African debt
Health cooperation between China and Eritrea contributes to a lasting friendship
In the following article, which was originally carried in ChinAfrica, a publication issued under the auspices of Beijing Review, Fikrejesus Amahazion, an Eritrean educator and researcher, explains how cooperation in the healthcare sector epitomises the close friendship between China and Eritrea.
In November 2022, members of the Chinese medical team, working side-by-side with Eritrean doctors, performed complex spinal surgeries on patients in the capital Asmara for the first time in the nation’s history. This coincided with the 25th anniversary of the first dispatch of a Chinese medical team to Eritrea and served as “a timely and powerful reflection of the longstanding ties and enduring friendship between China and Eritrea.”
Contacts between China and Eritrea, the author notes, date back almost 2,000 years. However, “contemporary ties can be traced back to Eritrea’s long struggle for independence, when China offered support to Eritrea’s independence movement.”
In Amahazion’s view, “A key factor that underlies the success of health cooperation between Eritrea and China, as well as the broader relationship, is the firm commitment to the principles of mutual understanding, trust, and respect…The Eritrean government has historically insisted on establishing genuine partnerships and cooperation, while retaining firm control of its development agenda and local implementation. It encourages assistance addressing specific needs that cannot be met internally, and that complements and strengthens, rather than replacing, the country’s own institutional capacity to implement projects.”
This is rooted in a great desire to avoid crippling dependence and to foster a strong, clear sense of responsibility for and genuine ownership of the country’s future among all citizens. “For its part,” he notes, “China’s own approach to assistance has considerable similarities.”
Local media outlets in Eritrea recently reported about how members of the Chinese medical team, working side by side with Eritrean doctors, performed complex spinal surgeries on patients at Halibet Hospital in Asmara in November 2022. The extremely technical operations, which are the first-ever procedures of their kind within Eritrea, are an exciting landmark in the country’s medical sector and history.
Coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the first dispatch of Chinese medical team to Eritrea, the recent surgeries also serve as a timely and powerful reflection of the longstanding ties and enduring friendship between China and Eritrea, especially in the field of health. For a quarter of a century, health cooperation between China and Eritrea has positively contributed to the lives and wellbeing of the Eritrean people nationwide, and also helped to move the country’s health system forward.
Historical background
Although it has received significant global attention in recent years, China’s engagement with Africa actually dates back centuries and spans a number of ancient dynasties. Modern Sino-African ties can be traced to the earliest years of African independence in the 1950s and 1960s. Since then, China has become the continent’s leading trading partner, while Chinese investment in and lending to African countries have grown rapidly. Over the years, the relationship has steadily broadened to reach an array of other sectors, including culture, digital infrastructure and technology, security, and education.
Continue reading Health cooperation between China and Eritrea contributes to a lasting friendship
President Obiang: China is the first partner to help Equatorial Guinea
In this episode of the new CGTN series Leaders Talk, Li Peichun interviews Africa’s longest-serving head of state, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasago of Equatorial Guinea.
A Spanish colony for centuries, Equatorial Guinea was one of the poorest countries in Africa when it finally achieved independence in 1968. It was only with the discovery of major oil reserves that the country embarked on the road of rapid development in the 1990s. However, with reductions in the price of oil in recent years, the country now faces the task of economic diversification. President Obiang explains that as soon as his country discovered oil, it set out a short, medium and long-term national development plan, with the intention that the gains from oil production be used for national investment. The country’s economic diversification programme lays emphasis on agriculture and fisheries, so that the country can become self-sufficient in food and not rely on any one product.
President Obiang paid the first of his 10 state visits to China in 1984, two years after he assumed the presidency. In the interview, he reflects on the major changes he has observed in China over that period, from a country where the main form of transportation was the bicycle to a strong economic power, with modern infrastructure, and a major provider of aid to developing countries. In his view, the ideal of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is to serve the people of China wholeheartedly, by promoting development and modernisation, so as to make both the country and the people strong. The CPC, the President says, is a pioneer party that can help other political parties, especially his Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDEG), to develop their own ideals and principles.
The programme highlights how, when Covid-19 was first detected in Wuhan, Equatorial Guinea promptly donated US$2million to assist the Chinese city in dealing with the unexpected outbreak. Later, China sent medical experts and materials, as well as batches of vaccines, to help Equatorial Guinea to fight the virus. Due to their trust in China, President Obiang and his family opted to receive Chinese vaccinations.
Turning to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), President Obiang begins by noting that the development of Africa should be led by Africans. African leaders, he insists, must think about how to improve their countries, else they will not prosper. It was on this basis that his country had decided to cooperate with the BRI, because China is the first partner to help Equatorial Guinea and even Africa as a whole. The BRI, he notes, is the way for Africa to overcome the underdevelopment, suffering and poverty it is currently facing.
Refuting accusations of Chinese ‘neo-colonialism’ or ‘debt trap diplomacy’, President Obiang is crystal clear: “This is a smear and western countries should be ashamed of it.” Africa, he notes, receives very little assistance from the western countries, and what they do receive is accompanied by political conditions that undermine the stability of the country. “Those who want to accept such assistance are often those who encounter great difficulties.” China, he notes, did not colonise any African countries, it was the west, so their criticism is intended to contain China and to prevent it from helping the development of the African continent. “But we have discovered that China is our best friend… Equatorial Guinea has not received any international development assistance except from China.”
In another example of the close friendship between the two countries, towards the end of the interview, President Obiang sends a personal message to the students of the China-Equatorial Guinea Friendship Primary School in China’s south-western Yunnan province, whose renovation was paid for by the Equatorial Guinean government.
The full interview is embedded below.
China supports peace, unity and development in Ethiopia
During his recent visit to Ethiopia, the first leg of his ongoing Africa tour, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang addressed the current peace process in the East African country in a press conference he gave together with Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen.
Asked for his views on the recent peace agreement, signed on November 2, 2022 in South Africa, Qin Gang noted that that Ethiopia is the common home of all Ethiopian people, including those from Tigray.
Ethiopia has now entered a new stage of looking forward to peace and focusing on development after the recent signing of a ceasefire agreement between the federal government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which has been gradually implemented, he said.
China is sincerely glad to see this and extends warm congratulations to the government and people of Ethiopia, Qin added.
He said China has always taken the view that the conflict in Tigray is an internal affair of Ethiopia and that the Ethiopian people have the wisdom and ability to independently resolve their internal differences.
The TPLF was the principal component of the now defunct Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), which was the ruling party in Ethiopia until 2019.
Qin Gang also responded to questions on the “Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa”, proposed by China.
The following article was originally published by the Xinhua News Agency.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Tuesday addressed members of the press along with Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen, after their talks in Addis Ababa.
When asked about China’s views on the peace agreement in Ethiopia and the progress of the China-proposed “Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa” in Ethiopia, Qin said that Ethiopia is the common home of all Ethiopian people, including those from Tigray.
Ethiopia has now entered a new stage of looking forward to peace and focusing on development after the recent signing of a ceasefire agreement between the federal government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which has been gradually implemented, he said.
Continue reading China supports peace, unity and development in Ethiopia
China and Angola celebrate 40 years of diplomatic relations
China and Angola celebrated the 40th anniversary of their establishing diplomatic relations on January 12, with an exchange of messages between President Xi Jinping and his Angolan counterpart João Lourenço.
Xi pointed out in his message that since the establishment of diplomatic ties, China and Angola have always been sincere and friendly towards each other, worked hand in hand, and understood and supported each other on issues involving their respective core interests and major concerns.
For his part, Lourenço noted that the two countries agree with each other on many international issues. He said Angola is willing to strengthen friendly and cooperative relations with China, build a shared win-win future, as well as achieve common progress, prosperity and development, so as to bring more benefits to the people of the two countries.
Meanwhile, some 600 people attended a reception marking the occasion on the evening of July 11, held by the Chinese Embassy in the Angolan capital Luanda. Chinese Ambassador to Angola Gong Tao said in his address that China and Angola have always adhered to solidarity and mutual assistance, achieving fruitful cooperation and exchanges in various areas during the past 40 years.
For many years, China has been Angola’s biggest trading partner, biggest export market, and significant source of investment. In turn, Angola has become China’s second-largest trading partner and the largest supplier of crude oil in Africa.
Underlining these excellent relations, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, presently on a tour of Africa, will visit Angola shortly.
The following articles were first published by the Xinhua News Agency.
Xi, Angolan president exchange congratulations on 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties
Xinhua, 12 January 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday exchanged congratulations with Angolan President Joao Lourenco on the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Xi pointed out in his message that since the establishment of diplomatic ties 40 years ago, China and Angola have always been sincere and friendly towards each other, worked hand in hand, and understood and supported each other on issues involving their respective core interests and major concerns.
At present, China-Angola relations enjoy a sound development momentum, and bilateral cooperation in various fields has yielded fruitful results, bringing tangible benefits to the people of the two countries, Xi noted.
Continue reading China and Angola celebrate 40 years of diplomatic relations
Fred M’membe and Kyeretwie Opoku: We have to defend China
We are pleased to run a further extract from the conversation, carried by Wave Media, between leaders of the Socialist Party of Zambia and the Socialist Movement of Ghana, Fred M’membe and Kyeretwie Opoku, regarding the past, present and future of relations between China and Africa.
They note that more and more young people in both China and Africa are seeing through imperialist lies and that after just a few days stay in China, they have come to the conclusion that the Chinese revolution is unstoppable.
Noting that China and Africa understand each other and are drawn together by a similar history of oppression by colonialism and imperialism from the 19th century onwards, they affirm that China today offers an alternative path to overcome poverty and realize development. In fact, they state, it is now the only path, as the old path of colonial expansion is closed off to those seeking to develop in the contemporary world. We have to defend China, they insist, because what China has achieved are our achievements, too. They also make the important point that non-interference does not preclude solidarity.
See also: When the West visits Africa, they talk about China
President Hassan’s visit reflects long-standing special relationship between China and Tanzania
As part of its post-Congress diplomacy, Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan, the East African country’s first female head of state, was one of four foreign leaders to visit China last week and the first from Africa to visit after the conclusion of the 20th Congress. This fully reflects the long-standing special relationship and solidarity between the two countries, forged by Tanzania’s founding President Julius Nyerere and successive generations of Chinese leaders, including Chairman Mao Zedong, Premier Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping. Tanzania was also one of the four countries visited by Xi Jinping in his first overseas visit on being elected President of China in 2013.
Symbolic of this history, among the 15 agreements signed during President Hassan’s visit was one to upgrade the Tazara railway, built by China between 1970-75 to allow landlocked Zambia to export its goods via Tanzanian ports at a time when the country was blockaded by the white racist regimes then in power in ‘Rhodesia’ (now Zimbabwe) and South Africa.
In its coverage of the state visit, China’s Global Times noted: “Running some 1,870 kilometers, the railway is sometimes regarded as the greatest engineering effort of its kind since World War II. The railway took only five years to build and was finished ahead of schedule in 1975.”
Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post wrote: “China’s involvement in the Tazara railway began in the 1970s under the leadership of Mao Zedong and then premier Zhou Enlai, when the country was facing its own financial difficulties. Lusaka was desperate for a railway link to the Tanzanian coast. Neighbouring white-controlled Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) had cut landlocked Zambia’s only outlet to the sea for its main export copper, in response to its support of African nationalist guerrillas fighting for the transfer of power to the Rhodesian black majority. China stepped in after the US and Russia refused to fund a new railway, on the grounds it did not make economic sense, and the Tazara was built for about a billion yuan – billions of US dollars at today’s rates – in interest-free loans. The 1,860km (1,155 miles) of track stretching from Zambia’s copper belt to the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam on the Indian Ocean was built between 1970 and 1975 with the help of 50,000 Chinese workers.”
Reporting on Xi Jinping’s meeting with his Tanzanian counterpart, the Xinhua News Agency wrote that the Chinese leader pointed out both the CPC and the Tanzanian Revolutionary Party (Chama Cha Mapinduzi) shoulder the historical mission of strengthening themselves and the country they govern, adding that the CPC will expand exchanges and cooperation with the CCM and support the curriculum and operation of the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Leadership School. Xi stressed that China views its relations with Tanzania from a strategic perspective and will always be a trustworthy friend of the country.
The Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Leadership School was built by China in Tanzania as a joint cadre training school for the progressive ruling parties in that country, along with those of Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, Namibia and Angola, all of whom led the liberation struggle in their respective countries.
Referring to the Tazara Railway, Xi said that it marks a milestone in China-Tanzania and China-Africa friendship. Even when China was poor, it tightened its belt to help its African brothers build this railway. “Now that China is more developed, it is better placed to act on the principle of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith, help our African friends achieve common development, and build a stronger China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era.”
The following reports were first carried by the Xinhua News Agency and the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Xi holds talks with Tanzanian president
Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with visiting Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan in Beijing on Thursday. The two presidents announced the elevation of the bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.
Noting that President Hassan is the first African head of state China has received after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Xi said it speaks volumes about the two countries’ close ties and the important position of China-Africa relations on China’s diplomatic agenda.
Xi recalled putting forth, while visiting Tanzania in 2013, the principle of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith to guide China’s cooperation with African countries. It has now become the basic policy guiding China’s solidarity and cooperation with other developing countries.
Continue reading President Hassan’s visit reflects long-standing special relationship between China and Tanzania
Video: When the West visits Africa, they talk about China
We are pleased to reproduce this video from Wave Media featuring a dialogue between Fred M’membe, President of the Socialist Party of Zambia, and Kyeretwie Opoku, Convenor of the Socialist Movement of Ghana, two of the new-emerging Marxist parties in Africa, on the question of relations between Africa and China.
According to the discussants, China is not an enemy of Africa. China has never attempted to colonize an African country and still has no ambitions to do so. In contrast, they note that the imperialist powers, particularly the United States, are increasingly trying to recolonize the continent. With their setting up of more military bases, their aim is both to suppress popular revolts as well as to exclude those they deem to be external competitors. The US and other Western powers are not there to defend the local people but rather their control of strategic minerals. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has an estimated 70% of the world’s cobalt resources, and neighboring countries like Zambia, Namibia and Niger are also rich in cobalt, uranium and other minerals. A Nigerien uranium mine supplies one third of France’s electricity. In one of the world’s poorest countries, people are being poisoned for generations to come by having to work in this open-pit mine.
When the west was colonizing Africa, the discussants note, China was supporting the liberation struggle, and subsequently helped defend Africa’s newly won independence. A key example was the Tazara Railway, which enabled landlocked Zambia to break out of its blockade and encirclement by countries still then under racist and colonial rule. Both the United States and Britain refused to help build the railway, but China stepped in, even though it had no comparable railways of its own at that time and many African countries had a higher GDP per capita than China. Today, almost all the major new infrastructure projects to be seen in Africa have been built by China.
Similarly, in the 1970s, Zambia was repeatedly bombed by the white racist regimes in South Africa and ‘Rhodesia’. The country had no air defenses to protect its territory or the bases of the national liberation movements it was hosting. The Americans, British and even the Soviet Union refused to sell air defenses to Zambia. China was the only country prepared to aid Zambia in this way, sending an entire squadron of MiG21s, even though China itself possessed only limited defenses at that time.
China has proved itself to be key partner for African development
We are pleased to reprint the below article by Michael Olugbode, a journalist with the Nigerian newspaper, This Day, originally carried by People’s Daily Online.
Situating his argument in the context of the contributions of the great Pan-African and socialist revolutionaries Walter Rodney and Frantz Fanon, respectively from Guyana and Martinique, and their most famous works, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa and The Wretched of the Earth, Michael goes on to assert:
“It has been many decades since colonization ‘ended’ on the African continent, but the continent has not fully healed from this past trauma and continues to search for a path to continue from where its development was disrupted. Perhaps this search may have at last come to an end with the support of a country that had also once witnessed a dose of colonization and whose people has since healed from this inhumane history, having emerged from the ruins of colonization and wars to become the fastest growing economy on the planet. That country is none other than the People’s Republic of China.”
Outlining details of the multifaceted cooperation between China and Africa, he notes that the 10 plans that President Xi Jinping outlined at the 2015 FOCAC (Forum on China-Africa Cooperation) Summit in Johannesburg have been implemented in full, with the construction of numerous railways, highways, airports, ports and other infrastructure projects, and concludes:
“The facts are there for everyone to see that Africa has finally and gradually started moving towards a promising mode of development thanks to the fellow brother that China has proven itself to be.”
Modern science, and especially the latest archeological discoveries, has shown that the African continent is the cradle of humankind. Its people were developing slowly and steadily at their own pace until some external forces invaded the continent and carted away its able bodied men and women to strange lands where they were forced to toil for generations building the emerging economies of another continent.
Some have referred to this process as an exchange or perhaps a kind of trade, but could it be described as such when humans, treated like nothing but property, were exchanged for goods such as guns and gin. No wonder Walter Rodney, in reference to his book How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, argued that it was a combination of power politics and economic exploitation of Africa by Europeans that eventually led to the poor state of African political and economic development as became evident in the late 20th century. Although the author did not state his intention “to remove the ultimate responsibility for development from the shoulders of Africans… [He believes that] every African has a responsibility to understand the [capitalist] system and work for its overthrow.”
Similarly, Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth provides insights into how the developmental strides of Africa were distorted. The psychiatrist provided a psychological and psychiatric analysis of the dehumanizing effects of colonization upon the individuals and the nations of Africa, and discussed the broader social, cultural, and political implications of establishing a social movement for the decolonization of a person and of a people.
It has been many decades since colonization “ended” on the African continent, but the continent has not fully healed from this past trauma and continues to search for a path to continue from where its development was disrupted. Perhaps this search may have at last come to an end with the support of a country that had also once witnessed a dose of colonization and whose people has since healed from this inhumane history, having emerged from the ruins of colonization and wars to become the fastest growing economy on the planet. That country is none other than the People’s Republic of China.
China has presented Africa with a way out of its constant state of underdevelopment by offering a friendly win-win international development springboard in the form of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). At the opening ceremony of the 2018 FOCAC Beijing Summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping quoted the observations of an ancient Chinese scholar, who stated that: “Only with deep roots can a tree yield rich fruit; only filled with oil can a lamp burn brightly.” Xi noted that history follows its own rules and logic, and that with a similar fate in the past and a common mission, China and Africa have extended sympathy to and helped each other throughout all the past years. He said: “Together, we have embarked on a distinctive path of win-win cooperation.”
“Marching on this path, China has followed the principle of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith and the principle of pursuing the greater good and shared interests. China has stood with African countries. Together, we have worked in unity and forged ahead,” said Xi.
The words of President Xi is the moving spirit behind the FOCAC. Since the 2015 FOCAC Johannesburg Summit, China has fully implemented the 10 cooperation plans adopted at the Summit. A large number of railways, highways, airports, ports and other infrastructure projects as well as a number of economic and trade cooperation zones have been built or are under construction. Mutual cooperation on peace and security, science and technology, education, culture, health, poverty reduction, and people-to-people exchanges has been deepened. The massive financing pledged by China has been either delivered or arranged to be delivered. These 10 cooperation plans have brought huge benefits to the African and Chinese peoples. They have fully demonstrated the creativity, rallying power and efficiency of China-Africa cooperation, and have lifted the China-Africa comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership to new heights.
China has meanwhile promised to build an even closer-knit China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era. It has even gone a step further to launch an industrial promotion initiative and a China-Africa economic and trade expo in China to encourage Chinese companies to increase their investment in Africa, in addition to building and upgrading a number of economic and trade cooperation zones in Africa. China also has a plan to support Africa in achieving general food security by 2030, working with Africa to formulate and implement a program of action to promote China-Africa cooperation on agricultural modernization. China has continued to strengthen cooperation with African countries in local currency settlement and has made good use of the China-Africa Development Fund, the China-Africa Fund for Industrial Cooperation, and the Special Loan for the Development of African SMEs.
The list is endless. Every series of important cooperation plans proposed by China during each FOCAC Summit has been effectively implemented, which has provided a great boost to the economic and social development of Africa and which has been highly praised by the African people and the international community.
China-Africa trade and cooperation have both blossomed. A number of major Chinese-assisted infrastructure projects have been completed, including the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway, Kenya’s standard gauge railway from Mombasa to Nairobi, and Cote d’Ivoire’s Soubre hydropower plant. These projects provide much needed transport and energy infrastructure to help further develop local industries.
The facts are there for everyone to see that Africa has finally and gradually started moving towards a promising mode of development thanks to the fellow brother that China has proven itself to be.
Danny Haiphong: Does China practice imperialism in Africa?
In this video breakdown on the Left Lens, co-editor of Friends of Socialist China Danny Haiphong analyzes China’s recent announcement that 23 interest-free loans to 17 African nations will be forgiven in the context of its broader relationship with the continent. Haiphong argues that China not only provides more flexible loan terms but also prioritizes the industrial development and export markets of African nations, something Western imperialism has never done.
Congo-China friendship “not empty words”
The below article, which we republish from the Xinhua News Agency, details how the Republic of Congo stepped forward to rebuild a primary school in a Tibetan autonomous area of China’s Qinghai province after the region was hit by a devastating earthquake in 2010. This touching story highlights the fact that the Republic of Congo (capital Brazzaville) is one of China’s long-standing special friends in Africa. This close friendship dates above all to the presidency of the late Marien Ngoubai, who served as head of state, 1969-1977, in which time he made a serious attempt to build a socialist state and founded the Congolese Labour Party (PTC). A major landmark in this regard was his 1973 visit to China, (North) Vietnam and the DPRK. For his part, President Xi Jinping took Congo as the final stop of his first overseas visit as head of state, in March 2013, which saw him first visit Russia, Tanzania and South Africa, where he also attended a BRICS Summit. The PTC, which is still the ruling party in Congo, was among the participants in last month’s world forum of Marxist parties hosted by the CPC.
For Basile Ikouebe, former foreign minister of the Republic of the Congo, the day when he inaugurated a Congo-aided school on China’s Qinghai-Tibet Plateau 10 years ago remains fresh in his memory.
In April 2010, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in northwest China’s Qinghai Province.
As locals were struggling to rebuild their homes, Congo, a country on the other side of the world, decided to reach out. When attending the Shanghai World Expo in 2010, Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso announced that the country would help rebuild a primary school in the quake-hit area.
“The friendship between our two countries is not empty words,” said Ikouebe. Friendship between Congo and China has always stood the test of time with solidarity and a heart of gold.
“To see our partner dealing with such a difficult situation, we should express our compassion and solidarity,” explained Ikouebe in a recent interview with Xinhua, underlining that Congo has “the heart to honor its commitments and solidarity” with China.
Continue reading Congo-China friendship “not empty words”
China, Ghana celebrate 61st anniversary of friendship treaty
We are pleased to reproduce this short piece from the Xinhua News Agency regarding the celebration organised last week in Accra by the Ghana China Friendship Association (GHACHIFA), marking the 61st anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship between China and Ghana. Joined by Ghana’s Chinese community, GHACHIFA also took this occasion to honour their founder Kojo Amoo-Gottfried.
Amoo-Gottfried founded GHACHIFA in 2000, when he retired from the diplomatic service and returned home from his posting as Ambassador to China. A lifelong friend of China, he was, as a schoolboy, inspired by the victory of the Chinese revolution in 1949. He first visited China, representing the West African Students Union (WASU), in 1959, for the tenth anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic. On that occasion he was received by Chairman Mao Zedong and he has maintained close friendships with successive generations of Chinese leaders since then, as well as with many other leading revolutionaries and statespeople worldwide, notably Malcolm X, Ho Chi Minh and Fidel Castro. He was among the many tens of thousands in Beijing’s Workers’ Stadium to witness the 1962 signing of the Friendship Treaty by Presidents Liu Shaoqi and Kwame Nkrumah. When the progressive government of Jerry Rawlings came to power, Kojo served successively as his country’s Ambassador to Cuba (and concurrently to many regional countries including revolutionary Nicaragua and Grenada), to the United Nations in Geneva and finally in China (and concurrently to the DPRK, Vietnam and Cambodia).
Kojo Amoo Gottfried is a member of the Friends of Socialist China advisory group and a much-loved friend and comrade.
The Chinese community and their Ghanaian counterparts late Thursday celebrated the 61st anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship between China and Ghana.
The celebration, organized by the Ghana-China Friendship Association (GHACHIFA), was also used to honor Ghana’s first ambassador to China and founder of GHACHIFA Kojo Amoo-Gottfried.
Chinese ambassador to Ghana Lu Kun said in his keynote message that the relations between the two countries have grown rapidly, with China providing development assistance to Ghana as Ghana continued to support China on the global stage.
Lu lauded the role of GHACHIFA in deepening the time-honored friendship and fostering genuine and dynamic people-to-people diplomacy and cultural relations between the two countries.
“Long distance separates no bosom friends. Even though China and Ghana are geographically far apart, our longstanding friendship, rooted in shared historical experiences and practical cooperation, has stood the test of time and will surely keep flourishing in the years ahead,” added the Chinese ambassador.
McArios Akanbeanab Akanbong, the director of the Legal and Treaties Bureau of Ghana’s Foreign Ministry, said China is a dependable friend of Ghana. “And because we want to go far, we will continue to walk with China,” he said.
During the celebration, GHACHIFA presented a citation to Amoo-Gottfried for establishing the association in 2000 and his contributions to the friendly relations between China and Ghana.
Expanding China-Africa friendship and cooperation
On August 18, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi chaired, by video link from Beijing, the Coordinators’ Meeting on the Implementation of the Follow-Up Actions of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
At this meeting, Wang announced that China is forgiving 23 interest-free loans for 17 African nations. Writing on Multipolarista, the website he edits, Benjamin Norton notes:
“This is in addition to China’s cancellation of more than $3.4 billion in debt and restructuring of around $15 billion of debt in Africa between 2000 and 2019. While Beijing has a repeated history of forgiving loans like this, Western governments have made baseless, politically motivated accusations that China uses ‘debt-trap diplomacy’ in the Global South.”
Wang Yi’s speech contained a wealth of detail on the progress in China-Africa cooperation since the ministerial meeting was held last November, including that:
- China has completed major projects in Senegal, Kenya, Cameroon and Egypt.
- Provided emergency food assistance to Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea.
- Provided 189 million doses of anti-Covid vaccines to 27 African countries, with joint production capacity in Africa having now reached around 400 million doses.
- Undertaken resilient and sustainable development initiatives in Zambia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Seychelles, Madagascar and Mozambique.
Presenting a number of proposals to develop the cooperation still further, Wang welcomed the initiative by Tanzania and Zambia to restart the Tazara railway, a huge project built by China in the 1970s to help those countries get out from the vice-like economic grip exercised by the countries to their south that were still under white racist and colonial rule.
On August 22, the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post reported that, “the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation has been appointed to carry out a feasibility study on the project, the Chinese embassy in Zambia announced.
“‘China is making every effort to prepare for the reactivation of the railway upon Zambian and Tanzanian request again,’ Chinese ambassador to Lusaka Du Xiaohui said, adding that Beijing will engage the Zambian and Tanzanian governments to explore ways to make Tazara profitable.”
Noting that some 70 Chinese workers and engineers sacrificed their lives in the course of building the railway, the newspaper further reported that, on August 10, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema commissioned a memorial park in their honour in Chongwe, near to the national capital, Lusaka.
We reprint below the article by Benjamin Norton and the full text of Minister Wang Yi’s speech. They were originally carried respectively by Multipolarista and the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
China forgives 23 loans for 17 African countries, expands ‘win-win’ trade and infrastructure projects
The Chinese government has announced that it is forgiving 23 interest-free loans for 17 African nations, while pledging to deepen its collaboration with the continent.
This is in addition to China’s cancellation of more than $3.4 billion in debt and restructuring of around $15 billion of debt in Africa between 2000 and 2019.
While Beijing has a repeated history of forgiving loans like this, Western governments have made baseless, politically motivated accusations that China uses “debt-trap diplomacy” in the Global South.
Continue reading Expanding China-Africa friendship and cooperation
Africa, China, and US imperialism
This important essay by US scholar Joel Wendland-Liu, originally published on the CPUSA website, provides a serious and detailed comparison of the US-Africa relationship and the China-Africa relationship. Referencing numerous recent studies indicating that Africans – and particularly younger Africans – have a more favorable opinion of China than of the US, the author contrasts the West’s record of military, economic and political coercion on the continent with China’s record of extensive, mutually-beneficial cooperation.
Wendland-Liu notes that China’s loans and investment terms are consistently more favorable than those of the US, and that China’s interest rates are lower and repayment terms more flexible. Most importantly, Chinese financing does not come with strings attached, and investment is not linked to an undermining of African sovereignty – as is the case with the Western financial institutions. Meanwhile, it is the US and its allies that are engaged in assorted and escalating military projects in Africa, in particular via AFRICOM.
The assorted (and unsubstantiated) claims about Chinese “debt traps” and imperialistic behavior in Africa, generated by the Western ruling class media but unfortunately parroted by sections of the left, serve to demonize China and to distract attention from the West’s very real ongoing imperialist objectives on the continent. As such, it is crucial that these myths be comprehensively exposed.
The U.S. government has become obsessed with Africa. Not with fostering its strength, independence, health, or economic development, mind you. Instead, it is worried about why Africans don’t like us much. Recent polling in 29 African countries shows that African youth hold more favorable opinions of China than of the U.S. More than eight in 10 respondents see China’s influence in their country as both more prominent than that of the U.S. and more positive. Upbeat views of China are nearly unanimous in Nigeria, Malawi, and Uganda.
Separate data reveals that since 2015 the number of African students from English-speaking countries who gained admission to Chinese universities surpassed that of those who attend universities in the U.K. and the U.S.
This data shows a considerable shift in African perceptions of China, to the detriment of the dominant neocolonial powers.
After four centuries of the European/American slave trade, colonialism, and neocolonialism, followed by decades of neglect, the U.S. government in 2021 called Africa “the southern flank” of NATO. Large chunks of the massive annual $800 billion military budget fund the complex of military installations, intelligence networks, and interventionist political projects called AFRICOM.
Continue reading Africa, China, and US imperialism
Xi Jinping sends message of condolence on the death of José Eduardo dos Santos
José Eduardo dos Santos, who served as President of Angola from 1979-2017, passed away on July 8. Born in 1942, he joined the MPLA liberation movement in his early years. Sent by the MPLA to study in the Soviet Union, he obtained degrees in petroleum engineering and radar communications from Baku’s Oil and Chemistry Institute in Soviet Azerbaijan. He subsequently participated in the armed struggle against Portuguese colonial rule for several years and also represented the MPLA in a number of countries, including China and Yugoslavia.
China and Angola established formal diplomatic relations in 1983, during President dos Santos’s term of office, and he went on to develop close political and economic relations with Beijing, with, according to 2021 figures, Angola now established as China’s third-largest trading partner in Africa.
The following report of President Xi Jinping’s message of condolence on the death of President dos Santos is translated from the Portuguese language service of China Radio International.
On July 12th, Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a message of condolences to Angolan President João Lourenço on the death of the former president of the African country, José Eduardo dos Santos.
Xi Jinping offered deep condolences on behalf of the Chinese government and people. He stated that José Eduardo dos Santos was an excellent leader of Angola and an old friend of China, as he made important contributions to the development of Sino-Angolan relations.
According to Xi Jinping, the Chinese side highly values the traditional fraternal friendship with Angola and wants to work together with the Angolan side to expand and deepen friendly cooperation in all areas and generate more benefits for both peoples.
Li Mingxiang attends the 15th National Conference of the South African Communist Party
The South African Communist Party (SACP), Africa’s oldest communist party, held its 15th National Congress from July 13-16. Solly Mapaila was elected as the new General Secretary, replacing Blade Nzimande, who had held the post since 1998. Nzimande was elected Party President. Congress heard that the Party now had well over 330,000 members.
Li Mingxiang, Assistant Minister of the Communist Party of China’s International Department, attended and addressed the congress via video link, presenting greetings from the CPC Central Committee. He spoke positively of the SACP’s contributions to ending apartheid, founding and developing a new South Africa, and advancing the exploration of socialism in South Africa over the past century and more. Also addressing the congress were Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the African National Congress (ANC) and of the Republic of South Africa, representatives of the ruling parties of Cuba, Venezuela and Palestine, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, and others.
The following report was carried on the website of the CPC International Department.
Li Mingxiang, Assistant-minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC), attended here today the 15th National Conference of the South African Communist Party (SACP) via video link upon invitation, and read out the congratulatory letter of the CPC Central Committee to the SACP Central Committee.
In his speech, Li spoke positively of SACP’s contributions to ending apartheid, founding and developing a new South Africa, and advancing the exploration of socialism in South Africa over the past century and more. Li introduced the historic achievements of the CPC Central Committee, with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, in pushing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era against the backdrop of profound changes unseen in a century, and briefed on the upcoming 20th CPC National Congress and the fourth volume of “Xi Jinping: The Governance of China” which was released recently. Li said, the CPC is willing to work with the SACP to conform to the trend of times, march towards the right direction of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and open up a future together.
Themed on “Together, Let’s Build a Powerful, Socialist Movement of the Workers and Poor”, the 15th National Conference of the SACP was held from July 13th to 16th in Johannesburg, South Africa. Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the African National Congress and the Republic of South Africa, major leaders of the coalition, representatives from international friendly parties such as Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Communist Party of Cuba, and some diplomatic envoys in South Africa attended the conference upon invitation.
China reaffirms close friendship with Zimbabwe and Mozambique
China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi visited Zimbabwe and Mozambique at the beginning of July as the final part of a foreign tour that had previously taken him to Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). China and the two southern African nations enjoy particularly close and friendly relations since Beijing extended all-out support to their armed struggles for national liberation against imperialism, colonialism and racism in the 1960s and 70s.
In a July 10 article entitled ‘Visit by China’s top diplomat underscores importance of Zimbabwe ties’, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post (SCMP) observed that: “A trip to Harare this month by China’s top diplomat has underscored the importance of Beijing’s relationship with Zimbabwe, its firmest economic and diplomatic ally in Africa. Zimbabwe has been cut off from global capital markets in the two decades since the United States and some other Western nations imposed sanctions on Harare…leaving Beijing as the main financier of infrastructure projects such as hydroelectric dams, airports and roads.”
The paper quoted Yang as saying that China “stands ready to further strengthen all-dimensional exchanges with Zimbabwe, be it party to party, government to government, military to military or people to people”. It further noted that: “China provided arms and training to the guerrillas of the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army during the armed struggle that toppled the country’s white minority government in 1980. Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa…was among those trained by Beijing” and continued:
“At a meeting in Harare on July 3, Mnangagwa told Yang that if China had not vetoed a push by Western powers for the United Nations to punish Zimbabwe over the land reforms that evicted white farmers, the country could have been destroyed. ‘This speaks volumes of the solid relations between Zimbabwe and China,’ Mnangagwa said after the meeting. ‘In 2008, when the Western countries, the Americans and the British and their allies, wanted to invoke the United Nations Charter which [would have] allowed them to invade Zimbabwe, the Chinese exercised their veto. This is why we are still here and remain independent, so these are solid friends of Zimbabwe.’
“He said China also funded the upgrading of the Hwange 7 and 8 thermal power plants at an estimated cost of US$1.2 billion. The Chinese embassy in Harare said the Hwange expansion project is 88 per cent complete and is expected to add 600 megawatts to Zimbabwe’s national grid.
“China has also financed the building of major airports such as Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare and Victoria Falls International Airport… Tsingshan Group, through subsidiary Dinson Iron and Steel, is spending an estimated US$1 billion to build an iron ore mine and carbon steel plant capable of producing 2 million tonnes a year in Manhize, Mvuma – south of Harare – that will be the biggest steel plant in southern Africa.”
Earlier, on July 4, the SCMP reported that: “China is preparing to hand over a new US$140 million parliament building as a gift to Zimbabwe…The site at Mount Hampden, about 18km (11 miles) northwest of the capital Harare, heralds the start of a new city.” Noting that the complex, built by the Shanghai Construction Group, had been fully paid for by China as a gift to Zimbabwe, the paper wrote: “The contractors said the facility was now ready to be handed over, 3½ years after construction started on a project that employed more than 500 Chinese technicians and 1,200 local workers. ‘There is no doubt that the new parliament will become a landmark building in Zimbabwe and even in the whole of Southern Africa,’ Shanghai Construction Group manager Libo Cai said… ‘It will be yet another milestone for the China-Zimbabwe friendship which keeps getting stronger year after year.’”
In their meetings with Yang, both Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi extended congratulations on the 101st anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and wished complete success to the party’s forthcoming 20th National Congress. Yang told Nyusi that China and Mozambique had “forged a profound traditional friendship in the struggle against imperialism and colonialism.” They were both, he continued, “developing countries that adhere to independence.”
The following reports of Yang’s meetings with the Zimbabwean and Mozambican Presidents first appeared on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
China’s leadership celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Algerian people’s victory in their war of independence
This month marks the 60th anniversary of the Algerian people’s victory in their war of independence and the foundation of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria. It is estimated that more than a million Algerians sacrificed their lives as the French colonialists fought a brutal war to hold on to their North African colony.
Greeting his Algerian counterpart Abdelmajid Tebboune on this significant occasion, Chinese President Xi Jinping wrote that “the Algerian people realised national independence and liberation after going through an arduous struggle, writing a glorious chapter of the liberation movements of the Arabian and African peoples. The Chinese government and the Chinese people provided support and assistance to Algeria’s independence revolution, and the two countries and two peoples forged a profound friendship during the struggles.”
Premier Li Keqiang and Foreign Minister Wang Yi also addressed messages to their Algerian counterparts.
China was the first non-Arab country to recognise the Algerian provisional government declared by the National Liberation Front (FLN) in 1958 and provided extensive assistance to the Algerian people in the form of weapons, funds and training. Algerian Foreign Minister Abdelkader Messahel, referred in a 2018 speech to “the vital contribution that China has brought to the Algerian revolution to help it regain its independence. The unwavering support of China continued as it was the first country to recognise the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic (GPRA) a few weeks after its proclamation.”
Shortly after independence, Algeria welcomed the first ever medical aid team that China sent to Africa.
The following report was first carried on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Xi Jinping Sends Message of Congratulation to Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on the 60th Anniversary of the Victory of the Algerian War of Independence / Li Keqiang Sends Message of Congratulation to Algerian Prime Minister Aymene Benabderrahmane
On July 5, 2022, President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to President of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria Abdelmadjid Tebboune on the 60th anniversary of the victory of the Algerian War of Independence.
Xi Jinping pointed out, sixty years ago, the Algerian people realized national independence and liberation after going through an arduous struggle, writing a glorious chapter of the liberation movements of the Arabian and African peoples. The Chinese government and the Chinese people provided support and assistance to Algeria’s independence revolution, and the two countries and two peoples forged a profound friendship during the struggles. In recent years, political mutual trust between the two countries has been strengthened continuously and bilateral practical cooperation has been fruitful, taking the China-Algeria comprehensive strategic partnership to ever new levels. I attach great importance to the development of China-Algeria relations and stand ready to work with President Tebboune to push forward exchanges and cooperation in all fields within the framework of the Belt and Road cooperation for the benefit of the two countries and two peoples.
On the same day, Premier Li Keqiang sent a congratulatory message to Algerian Prime Minister Aymene Benabderrahmane. Li Keqiang said, since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries 64 years ago, bilateral relations have been developing in a sound and stable manner. I would like to join hands with Prime Minister Aymene Benabderrahmane to expand and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation across the board, enrich the China-Algeria comprehensive strategic partnership and continuously improve the well-being of the two peoples.
