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China's president in Namibia on Africa economic drive
2007-02-05
Chinese President Hu Jintao has arrived in Namibia on the fifth leg of an African tour which has seen him dole out hundreds of millions of dollars to states fuelling Beijing's economic juggernaut. Tight security was in place across the capital Windhoek as Hu flew in from nearby Zambia where he pledged 800 million dollars to develop the country's copper mines and waived nearly eight million dollars of its debt. Hu was greeted with a 21-gun salute at the airport on the outskirts of Windhoek and received by his Namibian counterpart Hifikepunye Pohamba on Monday. From the airport Hu was whisked away for a briefing with Chinese officials on the ground before starting talks with Pohamba. In a statement, Hu underscored that China was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Namibia, a one-time German colony which only gained independence from South Africa in 1990 after a lengthy civil war. Beijing handed over a 6.3 million-dollar grant shortly after the war. "From the very beginning of Namibia's national liberation struggle, the Chinese and Namibian peoples have sympathized with and supported each other, forging a profound friendship," he said. "I look forward to having an in-depth exchange of views with the Namibian leaders on the bilateral relationship ... and other major issues of mutual interest," he said. China is looking to Africa to feed much of its growing need for energy and natural resources, but its close links with regimes in countries such as Sudan and Zimbabwe have raised concerns in the West. Namibia, a mainly desert country with a population of little over a million, is teeming with the kind of natural resources, such as copper, that China has been hoping to get its hands on. Since 2004, Namibia has also been supplying the regime in Beijing with uranium oxide. Apart from signing a series of bilateral agreements and talks with Pohamba, Hu was also expected to meet with members of Windhoek's Chinese community during his 24-hour visit. A meeting has also been scheduled with Namibia's founding father and former president Sam Nujoma, still a hugely influential figure here. While in Zambia, Hu and his counterpart Levy Mwanawasa announced that a "special trade and economic zone" would be set up in the copper-rich country's mining town of Chambeshi, north of the capital Lusaka. "This economic trade zone is the first of its kind in Africa. It is also a showcase of Africa-China business cooperation," said Hu, whose country's avid courtship of Africa has fuelled charges that Beijing is only interested in exploiting the continent's mineral and oil wealth. Hu had earlier also vowed to give Zambia 150,000 dollars to help with damage caused by recent floods. Before Hu's departure for Africa, Beijing said it would write off debts owed by 33 African countries as part of a multi-billion-dollar pledge made last year to help fast-track the continent's development. China has made no apologies for its close military, economic and political ties with governments in Africa, even those spurned by the West, such as Sudan, the second stop of his tour which has also taken in Liberia and Cameroon. In Monrovia, Hu and his Liberian counterpart Ellen Johnson Sirleaf signed a memorandum of understanding involving the cancellation of all the 15 million dollars of debt owed by Liberia to China. China has also faced widespread accusations from African businesses of dumping cheap and sub-standard goods on African markets. In a statement issued ahead of Hu's arrival, the Namibia National Society for Human Rights slammed the dumping of goods and warned that it could lead to an "unfortunate" rise in xenophobia against the small Chinese community.
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