The Foreign Ministry denied yesterday that China and Zimbabwe
were discussing a US$2 billion loan to stabilize Zimbabwe's
economy.
Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular news briefing: "We
looked for confirmation of the news with relevant departments, and
there is no such deal."
Chris Mutsvangwa, Zimbabwean ambassador to China, was quoted on
Friday by The Herald, a Zimbabwean newspaper, as saying that
his country had opened talks with China on the loan in a move to
stabilize its economy.
Western media too ran the story allegedly without confirmation
from the ambassador, and alluded to the baseless fact that China is
attracted to Zimbabwe's mineral resources such as uranium and
platinum to fuel its booming economy.
Such stories trigger concern among certain Western countries
that China's influence in Africa goes against their interests,
especially after the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation that was
held last month in Beijing, said Liu Naiya, an Africa expert of the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)
"Actually, it is South-South Cooperation, or developing
countries helping each other," Liu said.
The Western countries imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe believing
its economic collapse would lead to political turmoil, and
ultimately the stepping down of (President Robert) Mugabe and the
formation of a new government, Liu said.
Some analysts say with inflation at more than 1,000 percent and
the unemployment rate above 60 percent, Zimbabwe is experiencing
its most difficult period since winning independence from the UK in
1980. The sanctions are believed to have greatly contributed to the
hardship.
"While the Zimbabwean people are living in an extremely
difficult situation, Western countries refuse to lend a helping
hand unless all of their conditions are met," said He Wenping,
director of the African Studies Section at the CASS.
The West considers aid from China, which attaches no political
conditions, as something that upsets their plans, she said.
Qin also said that Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing would make his first foreign trip
of the new year to Africa, with stops in Benin, Equatorial Guinea,
Guinea-Bissau, Chad, Central African Republic, Eritrea and Botswana
from December 31 to January 7 of 2007.
Responding to a question on whether the Nanjing Massacre would
be discussed at the first joint China-Japan study of history that
opened in Beijing yesterday, Qin said the Japanese invasion of
China and the Nanjing Massacre are historical facts that cannot be
denied.
"There is a mass of ironclad evidence for the Nanjing Massacre,
and the international community reached a final conclusion on it
long ago," he noted.
President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe agreed in October to begin the history research of the two
countries by the end of the year, and the two foreign ministers
agreed to release the results by the end of 2008.
Qin said he hoped the experts could conduct the study on the
basis of principles of the three political documents signed between
China and Japan and face history "correctly."
"We hope the study of 2,000 years of history between China and
Japan as well as modern and post-WWII history will enhance the
objective understanding of historical facts," he added.
"Positive momentum has been seen in the improvement and
development of China-Japan relations, and we consider the joint
study a correct decision as it will help both sides properly handle
matters through dialogue and exchanges, and create the foundation
for the future of bilateral relations," he said.
Also according to Qin, China has transferred 687.63 million yuan
(US$87.93 million) of donations to tsunami-hit countries in the
Indian Ocean, carrying out its pledge in full.
"All Chinese donations to the countries stricken by the Indian
Ocean tsunami have been made, with most construction projects now
complete and projects still under construction proceeding
smoothly," Qin said.
This is the biggest emergency relief package that China has
provided since 1949, he noted.
The catastrophic tsunami that occurred in the Indian Ocean on
December 26, 2004 left 37,000 people missing and caused US$4.5
billion of property losses.
The very next day, the Chinese government announced that it
would provide 21.63 million yuan (US$2.77 million) worth of
emergency humanitarian relief in kind and cash. Later it added
disaster assistance of 500 million yuan (US$63.9 million) and
multilateral donations of about 166 million yuan (US$21.2
million).
The Chinese government and people's actions were an embodiment
of its good-neighborly policy of "forging friendship and
partnership with neighbors" and had been highly appreciated by
governments and people from the tsunami-hit countries as well as
the international community, Qin said.
"We will continue to work with other countries on the projects
still under construction to help the victim countries recover from
the disaster," he added.
(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency December 27, 2006)
