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China's FM visits Malawi after Taiwan snub
2009-01-15
BLANTYRE (AFP) - China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi was to visit Malawi on Thursday, the first trip by a high-ranking Chinese official since the African nation switched its ties from Taipei to Beijing last year. "The minister will strengthen economic and cultural ties with Malawi," Chinese ambassador to Malawi, Lin Songtian, told AFP. The poor southern African country last year switched its diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China, in a controversial move that angered Taiwan and led to the termination of various cooperation agreements with Blantyre. Malawi had been Taiwan's ally for 42 years. Yang will be accompanied on the visit by business leaders to explore opportunities in Malawi, the ambassador said. Yang will meet President Bingu wa Mutharika and also hold talks with his counterpart, Joyce Banda, as well as sign some bilateral agreements with Malawi, the foreign ministry said. Lin said China has "kept its promises" to help develop Malawi, saying his country was constructing a stadium, new parliament building, and a five-star hotel -- all at a cost of more than 230 million dollars (174.6 million euros). "The relationship between China and Malawi has developed steadily and rapidly," Lin said. Mutharika, who had in the past vigorously supported Taiwan's bid for admission to the United Nations, last year paid a state visit to China. Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war and Tapei has since vied for international recognition as the rightful government, with Beijing regarding the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification. The Malawi visit is part of Yang's African tour, also taking him to Uganda, Rwanda and South Africa. China has built close partnerships with African nations in recent years, partly to secure resources such as oil, minerals and timber to help fuel its economic growth. The relationships have drawn some criticism in the West due to Beijing's links to regimes with poor human rights records, including those of Sudan and Zimbabwe. However, the World Bank said in a report last year that China's overtures to Africa had led to a massive infrastructure revolution on the continent that was vital to reducing poverty. Many African nations have also welcomed China's no-strings-attached economic policies.
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