Sino-African relations have aroused a lot of attention from around the world. Some are critical and some see more positive changes. Thus how to look at Sino-African relations depends on how one understands such relations.
At a seminar in Stockholm last week, Dr. Henning Melber, Executive Director of the Dag Hammarsky枚ld Foundation in Uppsala in Sweden gave an overview on Sino-African relations and some changes in the current situation.
Dr. Melber said that China's presence in Africa met a lot of criticism from Europe and the US over the past years because it was considered as if China had entered the 'backyard' of the Europe and the US. But after a debate between Swedish, Chinese and African scholars early last year, such misunderstanding has been cleared and people are focusing more on how to cooperate in the matter of helping Africa out of poverty.
Dr. Melber reiterated that China's presence in Africa is not new. Since the founding of the People鈥檚 Republic of China, due to the isolation from the US and Europe, China pursued to unite the Asian and African countries. And one of the outstanding projects China has provided to Africa was the Tanzania and Zambia railway. While the western countries were looting resources from Africa, China gave a lot of selfless help. This made a lot of African people feel very grateful for China's help and China's presence was welcome.
Dr. Melber said that the western criticism towards China was using 'double standards'.
On the other hand, in recent years, abreast with a lot of infrastructure assistance from China, trade and business between China and Africa are also on the increase. While benefiting from China's inexpensive goods, some small business in Africa also suffered from the competition. Thus there were some people who had resentment remarks about Chinese business people.
As a result, China has adjusted its foreign policies and takes more responsibilities in the world which was very welcome.
Dr. Melber said it is not right to just point fingers to China on what they do in Africa. China has sent a lot of peace keeping troops to the world which shows that China is a responsible country and gave a lot of technical support in Africa. China has done a lot for Africa, e.g. to cancel the debts and provide loans which will really benefit the African people. China has built a lot of stadiums, conference centers, airports and roads in many African countries.
At the same time, Dr. Melber suggests that China should also help Africa to fight against corruption in relevant countries.
'It is always better to consider how the policy will really benefit the ordinary people, but not just elites or politicians in the local area. They must be accountable too.' said Dr. Melber.
He also suggests that while giving help to Africa through projects or trade, it is still necessary to offer pure aid to Africa. The current global financial crisis gave a heavy blow to Africa too because traditional industry such as diamond face great difficulty, according to Dr. Melber.
Thus, Europe and China should improve mutual understanding and cooperation on the issue of Africa. The EU shouldn't just criticize China but be constructive. He hopes the EU-China conference on Africa in Brussels next month will be a success.
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