"China has been playing a key role in assisting Africa to get
rid of colonial rules and to develop its economy," said Dr. Salim
Ahmed Salim, a seasoned African diplomat, on Saturday.
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"The China-Africa friendship and cooperation are not confined to
economic and technological realms only, but are also felt in the
international political arena," he said in an interview with
Xinhua.
The 64-year-old Zanzibari got to know China at the age of 19
when he went to the Asian country as a diplomatic apprentice.
"China then whole-heartedly supported African countries in their
strife to get rid of colonial rules, and China now is
whole-heartedly supporting African countries in their efforts to
get rid of poverty," he said.
"A friend is not only one who comes when needed, but this
friendship has to be able to weather both ups and downs," said Dr.
Salim who likened China to such an all-weather friend in that it
has been extending support to African countries in a wide range of
events.
Starting his diplomatic career in Cuba, the Zanzibari has served
diplomatic missions in Egypt, India, China and the United Nations
apart from serving as the secretary-general of the former
Organization of African Unity, now the African Union, for three
terms on end.
He is now the African Union's special envoy and chief mediator
on Darfur, Sudan.
UN diplomats from the 1970s tended to say that Salim had missed
a real opportunity to be elected as UN secretary-general because of
his open support to China's return to the UN fold, for which he was
rejected by the United States in 16 rounds of votings.
"I did not regret at all. Not for one moment, because I was
among those who had just expressed their heart-felt joyance about
China's return to the UN," he said when asked about the feeling of
the anecdote.
The veteran diplomat described the event as not only China's
victory on the country's diplomatic front but also a victory for
the Third World countries as well as the United Nations itself.
When asked what the African countries are supposed to learn from
China most, his immediate answer was China's long-standing policy
of independence and self-reliance.
The veteran African diplomat might have a regret this time in
that his tight Darfur-related schedule will not allow him to attend
the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation,
scheduled for Nov. 3-5.
"I attended the first ministerial forum and I would think that
the China-Africa Forum had really promoted the friendship and
cooperation between China and African countries. I would also think
that the forum will continue to promote China-Africa friendship and
cooperation," he said, adding that he would expect this year's
forum in Beijing also to offer participants a platform on which
people could ponder on the changes of the world.
"This world has been changing all the time," he said, "so people
have to think about and prepare themselves for how to deal and cope
with the changes and the changing world."
(Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2006)
