Category: Africa

Xi Jinping says China and South Africa are comrades and brothers, and affirms unbreakable friendship with Cambodia

Whilst international media coverage understandably focused on President Xi Jinping’s March 18 telephone conversation with US President Biden, the Chinese leader also held two other important conversations that day with leaders of countries that have particularly friendly relations with China. 

Speaking with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Xi said that their two countries “share a special friendly relationship of comrades and brothers”. This phrase is particularly significant – whilst it has been used several times by the Chinese leadership to describe their ties with South Africa, it is highly unusual, if not unique, for China to describe its state relations with a non-socialist country as embracing comradeship. In this context, it is worth noting that the friendship between the Communist Party of China and the African National Congress of South Africa date back to at least 1953, when Nelson Mandela sent ANC Secretary General Walter Sisulu to China to gain support for the steadily building anti-apartheid struggle, following Sisulu’s participation in the fourth World Festival of Youth and Students in Romania. China consistently supported the South African people’s struggle against apartheid and for national liberation.

President Xi further said that the relationship with South Africa is of great significance both for China/Africa relations as well as solidarity and cooperation among developing countries. The two leaders also exchanged views on the development of the BRICS grouping, which links Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and which China chairs this year. They noted that their two countries share a very close position on the conflict in Ukraine, standing for dialogue and negotiation. There have been a number of suggestions that South Africa could play an important role in this regard. Clearly alluding to the US pressures that both countries are facing, the two leaders agreed that sovereign countries are entitled to independently decide on their own positions.

The same day, President Xi also spoke with Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, with a key focus being their bilateral Belt and Road Cooperation. Xi stressed that China would pay particular attention to developing roads and education in Cambodia’s rural areas so as to help develop agriculture and lift farmers out of poverty. Noting that next year will see the 65th anniversary of their diplomatic relations, President Xi said that their ties had become even more unbreakable whilst Prime Minister Hun Sen described the two countries as true ironclad brothers. Discussion also centred on the prospects for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), to which both belong, and relations between China and ASEAN, a ten-country bloc of South East Asian nations that Cambodia chairs this year.

China ready to move ties with South Africa to deeper level

Originally published in Xinhua.

China stands ready to work with South Africa to move their ties forward toward a deeper level with higher quality and broader scope, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday afternoon.

Continue reading Xi Jinping says China and South Africa are comrades and brothers, and affirms unbreakable friendship with Cambodia

Speech of W.E.B. Du Bois in Beijing University in 1959

On the 154th anniversary of his birth, we are pleased to republish this speech given in Beijing by the great African-American communist, Pan-Africanist, scholar and freedom fighter W.E.B. Du Bois on the occasion of his 91st birthday.

By courtesy of the government of the 600 million people of the Chinese Republic, I am permitted on my 91st birthday to speak to the people of China and Africa and through them to the world. Hail, then, and farewell, dwelling places of the yellow and black races. Hail human kind!

I speak with no authority; no assumption of age nor rank; I hold no position, I have no wealth. One thing alone I own and that is my own soul. Ownership of that I have even while in my own country for near a century I have been nothing but a “nigger.” On this basis and this alone I dare speak, I dare advise.

China after long centuries has arisen to her feet and leapt forward. Africa, arise, and stand straight, speak and think! Act! Turn from the West and your slavery and humiliation for the last 500 years and face the rising sun.

Continue reading Speech of W.E.B. Du Bois in Beijing University in 1959

Xi congratulates inauguration of Julius Nyerere leadership school

President Xi Jinping’s message of greetings to the completion ceremony of the Julius Nyerere Leadership School in Tanzania, reported here by CGTN, powerfully demonstrates that China’s commitment to the liberation and development of Africa continues in the new era. President Nyerere was the Founding Father of Tanzania, as well as an outstanding leader of the African liberation movement and of the Global South. A great friend of China, he first visited the country in 1965 and forged a deep bond with Chairman Mao, Premier Zhou Enlai and successive generations of Chinese leaders. This new school, built by China and bearing Nyerere’s name, is a joint initiative of the six liberation movements and ruling parties of Tanzania, South Africa, Mozambique, Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe. As President Xi notes, for a long time these six parties in southern Africa have united and led their people in the cause of national independence, construction and development. President Xi has taken a personal interest in the building of the college. He also sent his greetings to its groundbreaking ceremony in July 2018.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Wednesday sent a congratulatory letter on the inauguration ceremony of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Leadership School in Tanzania. 

The Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Leadership School, co-founded by six parties in southern Africa, is located in Kibaha, some 40 kilometers from the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.

The six parties are the Revolutionary Party of Tanzania, the African National Congress of South Africa, the Mozambique Liberation Front Party and the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola, the SWAPO Party of Namibia and the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front.

Continue reading Xi congratulates inauguration of Julius Nyerere leadership school

Justin Podur: Why comparing Chinese Africa investment to Western colonialism Is no joke

We are very pleased to reproduce this article from FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting) in which Justin Podur dissects a recent broadcast by South African comedian Trevor Noah, which made facile claims that China was colonising Africa. Whilst not hesitating to acknowledge shortcomings and mistakes, Podur presents a detailed refutation of Noah’s claims and, in so doing, draws apt comparisons between China’s contributions to Africa’s development and the truly murderous and rapacious history of imperialism and colonialism on the continent.

“Why China Is in Africa” (12/16/21) is a question Trevor Noah took up last month for Comedy Central‘s Daily Show. As with many of the topics taken up by the Daily Show, the issue is no joke: China has a large and growing economic presence in many African countries. The China/Africa deals cry out for analysis: Are they different from the deals on offer from Western countries like the US, Britain or France?

Post-independence Africa’s economic relationship with the West has been mediated through the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Funding for projects comes with a range of conditionalities; when Western loans come due, the IMF demands painful cuts to health and education programs as the price of refinancing. In the past, the IMF has taken outright control of African governments. At other times, the US has sponsored coups, assassinated leaders and fomented civil wars on the continent.

Continue reading Justin Podur: Why comparing Chinese Africa investment to Western colonialism Is no joke

President Isaias Afwerki on China-Eritrea friendship

Eritrea and China enjoy a deep bond and a strategic partnership, based on mutual respect and interests, and a healthy space for hashing out differing opinions and working towards common understandings. This friendship goes back to 1965 when China welcomed Eritrean freedom fighters and was the first foreign country to support the struggle with arms. China’s position at the time, even when it was not yet the powerhouse that it is today, was clear and had a notable appreciation for the Eritrean people’s struggle for freedom. It is important to keep in mind that this partnership did not develop because of China’s current standing in the world or for our own narrow interests. It is rather a longstanding relationship based on mutual interest and respect, one which highlights each country’s contributions and creates a platform for engagement in all strategic areas.

Eritrea: Interview of President Isaias Afwerki

Gyude Moore on the significance of China investments in Africa

In this informative speech, Gyude Moore – Senior Policy Fellow at the Center for Global Development and Liberia’s former Minister of Public Works – discusses the nature of the economic relationship between China and Africa. He draws on his personal experience of dealing with Chinese private and public investors to debunk the standard ‘debt trap’ myth that’s pervasive in the West, pointing out that China is extensively building infrastructure in Africa that’s essential for development and the improvement of living standards.

He notes that whereas the infrastructure built by colonisers was directed exclusively towards serving the economic needs of the European powers, the infrastructure being built by China is increasing connectedness between the different countries on the continent, allowing regional value chains to develop. Furthermore, Moore points out that China, as a developing country, tends to treat its African partners as equals rather than seeking to impose its authority in the way the imperialist countries are so used to doing.

Wang Yi’s Africa and Asia tour further debunks ‘debt trap’ conspiracy theory

This article by Stephen Ndegwa, first published in CGTN, discusses the ‘debt trap’ narrative in the context of Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s recent trip to several countries in Africa and Asia. Ndegwa notes that, although Western media and politicians often decry Chinese infrastructure loans as being exploitative, these accusations don’t stand up to scrutiny. Indeed, the debtor countries don’t share these criticisms and are highly appreciative of China’s support for their sovereign development.

One of the most popular rules of power says if you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. Well, that could be so. But those who religiously apply this maxim, which purportedly emanated from Nazi Germany’s Joseph Goebbels, forget that it carries a rider. The lie can only be maintained for as long as the originator shields people from the truth.

This has been the case with the so-called debt trap, a phrase generally coined by Western countries that alleges that China ensnared developing countries with unserviceable debt to take over their national assets. China’s aim, so goes the lie, is to enable China to get a foothold in various strategic locations around the world.

Interestingly, even after the United States-led Western bloc’s warning that choices have consequences, China’s partners do not seem to be relenting in expanding and deepening their Sino cooperation. The stress-free partnership has given developing countries much-needed breathing space that has helped them make economic choices best suited to their needs, rather than experimenting with high-blown models that have no practicality.  

Continue reading Wang Yi’s Africa and Asia tour further debunks ‘debt trap’ conspiracy theory

Abayomi Azikiwe: Africa-China relations could serve as bulwark against imperialist hegemony

In this speech to a recent webinar entitled Africa/China Relations: Challenges of Cooperation and Development (organized jointly by the International Manifesto Group and the Group for Research and Initiative for the Liberation of Africa), Abayomi Azikiwe (editor of the Pan-African News Wire) discusses the evolving relationship of friendship and solidarity between China and Africa, and contrasts this with the behaviour of the imperialist powers of Europe and North America.

The full webinar can be watched on YouTube. The text was first published in Fighting Words.

A ministerial summit of the Forum on China and Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held on November 29-30 in Dakar, Senegal reinforced the continuing bonds between Beijing and the 55-member African Union (AU).

FOCAC was formed in 2000 during an important period which was marked by several years of substantial economic growth on the continent of Africa and in the People’s Republic of China.

Continue reading Abayomi Azikiwe: Africa-China relations could serve as bulwark against imperialist hegemony

Danny Haiphong: The West distorts the China-Africa relationship in order to justify its own imperialism

In this speech to a recent webinar entitled Africa/China Relations: Challenges of Cooperation and Development (organized jointly by the International Manifesto Group and the Group for Research and Initiative for the Liberation of Africa), Danny Haiphong explores the evolving win-win relationship between China and Africa, and exposes the West’s distortion of this relationship. The full webinar can be watched on YouTube.

China and Africa: The real story of Western hypocrisy

In this extensive interview and conversation between Brian Becker and Professor Ken Hammond, these two veteran activists dissect China’s policies towards and presence in Africa. Starting with the latest ‘fake news’ fabrication regarding China supposedly seizing control of Uganda’s main airport, they contrast China’s strategy of win-win cooperation to the rapacious record of imperialism on the African continent, and situate this within the changing dynamics of relations between the US and China.

Bertie Ahern: China’s infrastructure investment has been of major benefit to the people of Africa

In this short interview with CGTN in advance of the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), former Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern gives his opinions on China-Africa relations. He praises the growing role of FOCAC, points to the transformative impact of China’s infrastructure investment, and debunks the idea that China has laid a ‘debt trap’ for African countries; indeed he notes China’s leading role in debt relief for poor and indebted nations. Video embedded below.

Keynote speech by Xi Jinping at opening ceremony of 8th FOCAC ministerial conference

We are very pleased to publish the full text of President Xi Jinping’s important speech to today’s opening ceremony of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. 

Noting that this year marks the 65th anniversary of the start of diplomatic relations between China and African countries, Xi notes that China and Africa have “forged unbreakable fraternity in our struggle against imperialism and colonialism”.

The Chinese President goes on to make four proposals, concerning fighting Covid-19, deepening practical cooperation, promoting green development and upholding equity and justice. 

He further notes that the two sides have jointly prepared the ‘China-Africa Cooperation Vision 2035’. Its first three-year plan features nine programmes, covering medical and health, poverty reduction and agricultural development, trade promotion, investment promotion, digital innovation, green development, capacity building, cultural and people-to-people exchange, and peace and security. 

Your Excellency President Macky Sall,

Distinguished Colleagues,

Dear Guests and Friends,

It is such a pleasure to attend the opening ceremony of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). Let me first express sincere appreciation to President Sall and the government of Senegal for their excellent organization, and extend a warm welcome to the colleagues and guests attending the Conference.

This year marks the 65th anniversary of the start of diplomatic relations between China and African countries. Over the past 65 years, China and Africa have forged unbreakable fraternity in our struggle against imperialism and colonialism, and embarked on a distinct path of cooperation in our journey toward development and revitalization. Together, we have written a splendid chapter of mutual assistance amidst complex changes, and set a shining example for building a new type of international relations.

Continue reading Keynote speech by Xi Jinping at opening ceremony of 8th FOCAC ministerial conference

China hails solidarity with Africa as cornerstone of its foreign policy

This article from CGTN provides a useful summary of the latest Chinese government White Paper on relations with Africa. China and Africa in the New Era: A Partnership of Equals was published by the State Council of the PRC on Friday, ahead of an important meeting of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

China and Africa trust each other, and their friendship is rock solid, a white paper on cooperation with the continent issued by China’s State Council Information Office said on Friday.
  
The report, titled “China and Africa in the New Era: A Partnership of Equals,” said shared past experiences and similar aims and goals have brought China and Africa close together and they will always be a “community of shared future.” 
  
Developing solidarity and cooperation with African countries has been the cornerstone of China’s foreign policy, as well as a firm and longstanding strategy, it said.

Continue reading China hails solidarity with Africa as cornerstone of its foreign policy

China, Africa to further boost ties

With the 8th ministerial meeting of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) opening in Senegal on Monday, this useful article from China Daily highlights how friendship, solidarity and cooperation with Africa have been a cornerstone of Xi Jinping’s foreign policy since he became President of China in 2013. His first foreign trip as head of state, days after taking office, took him to Russia, Republic of Congo, Tanzania and South Africa.

Development of relations guided by principles of ‘amity, real results’

Days after he was elected China’s president in March 2013, Xi Jinping embarked on his first overseas trip as head of state. Three of the tour’s four destinations were African countries.

When making a speech at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Xi said the trip was his sixth visit to the continent.

“When I visit Africa, I am always struck by two things,” Xi said. “One is its continuous progress. Each time I come to Africa, I am deeply impressed by new progress in development, which is most encouraging. The other is the warmth of the African people.”

Continue reading China, Africa to further boost ties

China calls on the US to remove its illegal sanctions against Zimbabwe

We are pleased to republish this article from Global Times, reporting on China’s support for the Southern African Development Community’s Anti-Sanctions Day initiative and its consistent opposition to the Western countries’ cruel and suffocating sanctions against Zimbabwe.

China stands in solidarity with Zimbabwe in a consistent call for the unconditional removal of Western sanctions. African ambassadors in Beijing thanked China for the positive support on the third Anti-Sanctions Day on Monday.

“While the guns of the revolution fell silent in 1979, sanctions are a continuation of an unwarranted and unprovoked war against Zimbabwe by the West… 20 years of sanctions have negatively impacted all sectors of the Zimbabwean economy and its people…and even undermined Zimbabwe’s credibility and national image,” Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to China Martin Chedondo said at the event at the Zimbabwean Embassy in Beijing.

Continue reading China calls on the US to remove its illegal sanctions against Zimbabwe

Former African diplomats recall joys at China’s restoration of lawful seat at UN

The support of the independent African nations was crucial for the restoration of China’s legitimate seat at the United Nations fifty years ago, on 25 October 1971. This article from Xinhua captures the excitement and emotion of that day.

Fifty years ago today, the 26th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted Resolution 2758 with an overwhelming majority and decided to restore the lawful seat of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the world body.

In the conference hall at the UN Headquarters located in New York City, thunderous applause and cheers echoed from all sides of the hall.

Continue reading Former African diplomats recall joys at China’s restoration of lawful seat at UN

Zimbabwe stands against anti-China propaganda

We are pleased to republish this editorial from The Herald, Zimbabwe’s most widely-distributed newspaper, addressing recent revelations that the US State Department has been sponsoring journalists to spread disinformation about Chinese investments in Zimbabwe. The article notes that China was a friend to the Zimbabwean people throughout their liberation struggle, and was the first country to formally recognise independent Zimbabwe in 1980. China has remained an all-weather friend and supporter of Zimbabwe, in a period when the US and its allies have pursued economic and political destabilisation.

Never be used against China by the United States

Revelations that the United States and some Western countries are engaged in sponsoring the media, labour unions, civil society and lawyers to fight Chinese investments in Zimbabwe, although hardly surprising, are most unfortunate.

It is understandable that the US is especially feeling the heat of a rising China, which is now the world’s second largest economy, and breathing down hard on the former sole superpower.

Continue reading Zimbabwe stands against anti-China propaganda

Xi Jinping sends condolences over passing of former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika

We reproduce below a report from Xinhua about the message of condolence sent by Xi Jinping to his Algerian counterpart, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, over the passing of former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. The message highlights the longstanding close friendship between China and Algeria, which extends from the early days of the Algerian war of liberation against French colonialism through to the present day. We note that Bouteflika was, for much of the 1960s and 70s, Algerian minister of foreign affairs, at a time when Algeria was sometimes referred to as the “capital of world revolution”.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday sent a message of condolence to Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune over the passing of former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Continue reading Xi Jinping sends condolences over passing of former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika