Her first ever state visit to China is full of pleasant
surprises for Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Africa's
first elected female president, including unexpected greetings for
her 68th birthday and her involvement in "ping-pong diplomacy" with
China.
The banquet hall at the Continental Hotel in south China's
boomtown Shenzhen suddenly resounded with "Happy Birthday" on
October 29, towards the end of the welcoming banquet hosted by
Mayor Xu Zongheng. Before she blew out the candles on the cake,
Liberia's "Iron Lady" wished her country's friendship with China
would be long-lasting.
A birthday greeting opened her meeting with President Hu Jintao
last Wednesday. "This is my most memorable birthday," she said.
When Johnson-Sirleaf arrived in China on October 28, she might
never expect she was to become the heroine in a present-day version
of "ping-pong diplomacy" -- she played table tennis with Foreign
Minister Li Zhaoxing at her hotel last Wednesday.
Li, who became acquainted with Johnson-Sirleaf at her
presidential inauguration early this year, happily joined her in
the exercise. "It's always a pleasure to greet a friend from afar,"
said the minister, quoting ancient Chinese scholar Confucius.
"The game is the modern version of the 'ping-pong diplomacy' --
this time between China and Liberia," said Lin Songtian, Chinese
ambassador to Liberia.
A US table tennis team visited China in April 1971 at the
invitation of their Chinese counterparts, the first US group to
visit after New China was founded in 1949. It broke the ice after
two decades of frosty Sino-US relations and eventually led to the
normalization of bilateral ties.
The "Iron Lady" was by no means tired out by her tight schedule,
preoccupied by whirlwind meetings and formal visits. She made time
for the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, two major stopping
points for first-time travelers to Beijing.
She marveled at the Chinese people's wisdom in building the
defense work more than 2,000 years ago. "The Great Wall is a huge
project. It'd still be a miracle even if built today."
The Harvard-educated master of public administration was
particularly interested in ancient China's imperial exams, the only
way for civilians to become officials in the feudal society, and
kept asking questions during her tour across the imperial compound
of the Palace Museum.
Married at 17 and a single mother of four kids, Johnson-Sirleaf
was particularly concerned with women's rights and interests. She
said women in Liberia are encouraged to take any job, including top
jobs at the government.
To that effect, her administration plans to build 50 more
schools, train 500 teachers and set up 4,000 scholarship programs
in the coming two or three years to help young women from poor
families through an education.
When asked to comment on the differences of China's Africa
policy from that of the US and European Union at a press conference
Thursday, the president said China has given the continent "bigger
room" to map its own development strategy in line with the
situations in different countries. Every country should map its own
development plan bearing in mind its own limitations, she told a
crowd of Chinese and foreign reporters.
She said the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa
Cooperation, which concluded Sunday afternoon, was a good
opportunity to enhance relations, cement cooperation and explore
further on trade, investment as well as cultural exchanges.
(Xinhua News Agency November 6, 2006)