中國外交官湧入非洲以應對西方魅力攻勢 (1/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

Chinese diplomats flock to Africa in response to Western charm offensive (1/2)

SCMP Sun, July 17, 2022 at 2:30 AM

The past month has been a busy time for Chinese diplomacy in Africa, with senior officials making dozens of trips to the continent to resolve disputes, strengthen relations and respond to a recent Western charm offensive.

In a meeting with Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye on Wednesday, the Chinese government's special representative on African affairs, Xu Jinghu, promised China would continue to strengthen bilateral relations with the East African nation in priority sectors such as agriculture, health and infrastructure.

Ndayishimiye said China had "stood by our side for years, especially in times of hardship", and Xu said Beijing would always support Burundi's economic and social development.

China has sent agricultural scientists to Burundi to help improve food production and has awarded scholarships to Burundian students.

On her eight-nation tour, Xu will also visit Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, Namibia, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles.

She is visiting the continent a few days after senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi visited Zimbabwe and Mozambique. And last month, Wu Peng, director general of the foreign ministry's African affairs department, visited South Africa, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Togo.

Also in June, China's special envoy to the Horn of Africa, Xue Bing, was in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa for the first Horn of Africa peace conference - which was sponsored by China.

Observers said the high-level trips aim to solve hotspot issues, especially ongoing conflicts in the Great Lakes, Horn of Africa and Sahel regions, and also to respond to the West's challenge to the Belt and Road Initiative in Africa.

Zhou Yuyuan, a senior research fellow with the Centre for West Asian and African Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said the specific role of a special representative on African affairs is political mediation.

"I think one of its important missions is to explore China's contribution to solving the hotspot issues in Africa," he said. "The relations among the countries in the Great Lakes region are not in a good situation, with the relationship between the DRC and Rwanda especially tense."

Rwanda and Congo have accused each other of firing rockets across their shared border. The Congolese authorities also alleged that Rwanda deployed soldiers in disguise on their territory.

"So, choosing the Great Lakes Region makes sense," Zhou said. "Maybe the most important reason [is that] Xu is French-speaking - this means official visits to French-speaking countries will mostly rely on her."

Tim Zajontz, a research fellow at the Centre for International and Comparative Politics at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, said Xu's stop in Kinshasa can be seen as a sign of goodwill to iron out protracted disputes between Chinese mining firms and the Congolese government.

He said most telling is the frequency with which high-level Chinese officials have visited Africa's island nations in the Indian Ocean over the past few years.

"Mauritius, the Seychelles and even Madagascar play a minor role for China economically," Zajontz said. "However, they are of central geostrategic importance for China's efforts to consolidate its presence across the Indian Ocean as part of the Maritime Silk Road."

While senior Chinese officials visit some African countries more frequently than others, "China pays attention to ensuring that all countries, except eSwatini that recognizes Taipei, are included on the schedule," David Shinn, a professor at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs in Washington, said.

As a result, countries that have more important ties with China such as South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Senegal, Congo and Namibia receive more high-level visitors. Some of these countries, such as Congo and Zambia, are mineral-rich. Congo sells most of its copper and cobalt to China, while copper-rich Zambia has attracted Chinese capital into mining and infrastructure.

The debt crisis in Zambia topped the agenda during Wu's recent visit to the country. He told a briefing in Lusaka that he was in Zambia to help coordinate China's response to its debt situation, which saw the country default on some dollar-denominated Eurobonds.

(to be continued)

Translation

過去一個月是中國在非洲外交的繁忙時期，高級官員數十次出訪非洲大陸，以解決爭端、加強關係並應對最近西方的魅力攻勢。

中國政府非洲事務特別代表Xu Jinghu周三在會見布隆迪總統 Evariste Ndayishimiye 時承諾，中國將繼續加強與東非國家在農業、衛生和基礎設施等優先領域的雙邊關係。

Ndayishimiye說，中國“多年來一直站在我們身邊，特別是在困難時期”，Xu Jinghu說北京將總是會支持布隆迪的經濟和社會發展。

中國向布隆迪派遣農業科學家幫助改善糧食生產，並為布隆迪學生提供獎學金。

在她的八國之行中，Xu還將訪問盧旺達、剛果民主共和國、剛果-布拉柴維爾、納米比亞、馬達加斯加、毛里求斯和塞舌爾。

她在中國高級外交官楊潔篪訪問津巴布韋和莫桑比克幾天后訪問非洲大陸。上個月，外交部非洲司司長Wu Peng訪問了南非、馬拉維、贊比亞、坦桑尼亞、塞內加爾、布基納法索和多哥。

今年6月，中國非洲之角問題特使 Xue Bing 在埃塞俄比亞首都亞的斯亞貝巴出席由中國主辦的首屆非洲之角和平會議。

觀察人士表示，此次高層出訪旨在解決熱點問題，特別是大湖區、非洲之角和薩赫勒地區持續存在的衝突，也是為了回應西方對非洲 “一帶一路” 倡議的挑戰。

上海國際問題研究院西亞非洲研究中心高級研究員Zhou Yuyuan表示，非洲事務特別代表的特定角色是政治斡旋。

他說： “我認為它的重要使命之一是探索中國如能夠何幫助解決非洲熱點問題”; “大湖地區國家之間的關係並不好，剛果與盧旺達的關係尤其緊張。”

盧旺達和剛果相互指責對方在其共同邊界上發射火箭。剛果當局還聲稱，盧旺達在其領土上部署了偽裝掩飾的士兵。

Zhou說: “所以，選擇大湖區是有道理的”; “也許最重要的原因[是]Xu會說法語 - 這意味著對法語國家的官式訪問將主要依靠她。”

南非斯泰倫博斯大學國際與比較政治中心研究員 Tim Zajontz 表示，Xu在金沙薩的停留可以看作是解決中國礦業公司與剛果政府之間曠日持久的爭端的善意標誌。

他說，最能說明問題的是過去幾年中國高級官員訪問印度洋非洲島國的次數。

Zajontz說: “毛里求斯、塞舌爾甚至馬達加斯加在經濟上對中國的影響很小”; “然而，它們對於中國去鞏固其在印度洋作為海上絲綢之路一部分的存在的努力,具有核心地緣戰略意義。”

中國高級官員在訪問非洲國家時，一些國家比其他國家更頻繁。 喬治華盛頓大學埃利奧特國際事務學院教授 David Shinn 在華盛頓說: “中國重視確保所有國家都被列入訪問日程安排, 除了承認台北的斯瓦蒂尼” 。

因此，南非、贊比亞、坦桑尼亞、塞內加爾、剛果和納米比亞等對華關係較重要的國家接待了更多高級別的遊客。其中一些國家，如剛果和讚比亞，有豐富礦產。剛果將其大部分銅和鈷出售給中國，而富含銅的讚比亞則吸引了中國資本進入採礦和基礎設施建設。

贊比亞債務危機成為WU近期訪贊期間的首要議題。 他在盧薩卡的一次簡報會上說，他在讚比亞幫助協調中國對其債務狀況的反應，該國在一些以美元計價的歐洲債券上違約。

(未完待續)