China’s ambassador portrayed his country on Tuesday as a benign force in Africa that dispatches doctors and teachers to the continent, opens trade opportunities and steers clear of political interference.
Speaking to a gathering sponsored by the Ralph Bunche International Centre at Washington’s Howard University, ambassador Zhao Wenzhong said China-Africa trade leaped from $10-billion in 2000 to $35-billion last year.
”There is huge potential for future growth,” Zhao said, in effect acknowledging Africa’s increasing importance as a supplier of natural resources for China’s rapidly expanding economy.
In stressing China’s policy of noninterference in Africa’s internal affairs, Zhao appeared to be responding to criticism that his country makes no distinctions between countries with poor human rights records and those with good records.
”We respect African countries’ choices of political systems,” Zhao said. He added that China’s policies do not jeopardise the interests of third parties.
Florizelle Liser, a top administration trade official, said the United States has no problem with China’s activities in Africa. ”We don’t view China’s engagement in Africa as a threat,” she said.
Princeton Lyman, a former ambassador to South Africa and Nigeria, suggested to the gathering that China has not played a constructive role in United Nations efforts to bring peace to the Darfur region of western Sudan, Africa’s largest country from which China buys significant amounts of oil.
China has ”slowed the UN Security Council down tremendously”, Lyman said, alluding to thwarted council efforts to impose punitive measures against the Sudanese government because of its support for violent Arab militias in Darfur.
Lyman, of the Council on Foreign Relations, noted that China has significant investments in three of Africa’s major oil producers: Sudan, Angola and Nigeria.
He added that China also has investments in Africa in such areas as manufacturing, health, tourism and agriculture. China sees Africa as a significant source of food over time, Lyman said. — Sapa-AP