China’s FM visits Chad on African tour
Jan 4, 2006 (N’DJAMENA) — China’s foreign minister arrived in Chad, the fourth stop on a seven-state tour to boost the Asian giant’s ties with Africa, reflecting China’s growing economic interest in the continent.
The Chinese minister, Li Zhaoxing, was met by Chad’s President Idriss Deby Itno and the two held talks for over an hour, on topics including the crisis in the war-torn Darfur region of neighbouring Sudan, Li told journalists after the meeting.
He later signed a series of deals with his Chadian counterpart Ahmat Allami, including a “preferential loan” of some 13 billion CFA francs (around 20 million euros, 26 million dollars) and a deal to cancel billions of CFA of debt owed by Chad to Beijing, plus other economic and development deals.
Li had arrived from the west central African nation of Guinea Bissau, which said it received four million dollars (three million euros) from China after talks between Li and its President, Joao Bernardo Vieira.
The donation was announced after talks in which the two men were to sign a protocol to build on existing cooperation projects, according to the Bissau foreign ministry, though no details of the meeting were given afterwards.
Both sides have yet to discuss how the money will be used, the ministry said.
China, one of Guinea-Bissau’s main trading partners, has an interest in the poor, small country’s fishing products and cashew nuts, the Bissau foreign ministry said earlier, adding that China also plans to loan it 60 million dollars for the next farming season.
China is keen to gain access to Africa’s massive raw material reserves to feed the breakneck growth of its own economy. In doing so it has been criticized for dealing with countries such as Sudan and Zimbabwe, which are spurned by the West for human rights abuses.
In N’Djamena, Li also hailed “the Chadian government’s attitude, aiming to preserve relations of friendship… with Sudan,” Li said. Sudan is a traditional ally of China.
However, relations between Chad and Sudan have come under strain in recent months, with Deby accusing Khartoum of backing Chadian rebels who tried to overthrow him.
The two countries re-established diplomatic relations in August 2005. This rapprochement “turned a new page in relations” between the two nations, Li said.
Li’s seven nation tour has already taken him to Benin and Equatorial Guinea, and he is next due to visit the Central African Republic, Eritrea and Botswana.
(AFP)