China thanks Africans for defeating Taiwan’s bid to join UN
September 27, 2007 (UNITED NATIONS) — Against the backdrop of a nearly 30 percent increase in trade between China and Africa this year, the Chinese foreign minister thanked a group of African countries for their support in defeating Taiwan’s bid to join the United Nations.
Yang Jiechi underlined the “stronger mutual support” China and Africa have shown one another since a summit aimed at increasing cooperation between the two last year.
“The attempt of the Taiwan authorities to join the U.N. was once again foiled,” Yang Jiechi said Wednesday at a meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. “This would not have been possible without our African friends’ staunch support to China.”
The General Assembly decided to keep Taiwan’s bid to join the world body off its agenda on Friday, for the 15th straight year.
China claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory and resists any move that appears to give the self-governing, democratic island the trappings of sovereignty. In 1971, the Beijing government took over China’s U.N. seat from Taiwan.
Not all African countries supported Beijing’s opposition to Taiwan’s bid. Many of the island’s allies have spoken out against the rejection in speeches to the General Assembly.
Swaziland’s King Mswati III said Taiwan’s application was rejected without due process. “We continue to support the cause of the over 23 million people of Taiwan who are not represented in the one organization that should be truly global,” he added.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, who is co-chair of the forum, said the cooperation between Africa and China represents the “consensus between them on many of the regional and international issues.”
Aboul Gheit said China and Africa share “visions and positions on many of the world’s problems,” including Darfur.
China, which buys two-thirds of Sudan’s oil output and sells weapons to Khartoum, has been accused by some politicians and aid groups of not using its economic leverage to push Sudan’s government more strongly for peace in Darfur.
More than 200,000 people have died and some 2.5 million have been displaced since rebels rose up four years ago in the western Sudanese region. Sudan’s government is accused of responding to the uprising by unleashing a militia of Arab nomads known as the janjaweed _ a charge it denies.
Yang heralded increased trade between China and the continent, which he said reached US$39.3 billion (A27.8 billion) between January and July this year, nearly 30 percent more than during the same period last year.
China has been promoting itself as a partner for Africa’s development, investing in its industry and infrastructure, as it tries to secure oil and other resources for its booming economy. But Beijing faces complaints that it is treating Africa as a colony and that it supports oppressive regimes, such as Sudan and Zimbabwe.
Yang stressed that China’s role in Africa was that of an equal _ a notion that resonates on a continent long under the thumb of Western colonial powers.
“We should increase dialogue and coordination on major international and regional issues to jointly uphold the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries,” Yang said.
(AP)