Interview: Senior S.African official says China influences relations with Africa in an equal, mutually-beneficial way

China's increasing involvement in Africa's development may influence the nature of international relations with African countries, in an equal and mutually beneficial way, a senior South African official has said.

With China's entry into Africa, "we are beginning to get everybody to understand the principles of sovereignty, equality, non-intervention in the affairs of other countries, and mutual benefits," South Africa's Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

This "can even change the whole nature of how other countries deal with Africa in terms of our relations," and "we can create the environment in which we can deal with other countries on a more equal basis," Pahad said.

The deputy minister made the remarks on the eve of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to South Africa, which he described as coming at a very crucial time.

President Hu's visit "is an increasing sign that, as China emerges as a strong economic power in the world and as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, China has a major role to play," Pahad said.

He said China influences not only the world's political and economic situation, but more specifically in dealing with challenges that other countries are experiencing, particularly in Africa.

South Africa is part of Hu's eight-nation trip to Africa that began Tuesday last week, three months after the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held last November, during which Chinese and more than 40 African leaders pledged to intensify cooperation on mutual development.

During Hu's visit, Pahad said, China and Africa will need to see how to follow up on decisions made during the Beijing summit, which include China's increasing aid to Africa, skills training, and greater expansion in two-way trade and investment.

"The visit is very important on the economic front," he said.

Pahad stressed that the South African government does not believe that China is coming to Africa as a new colonial power, as some people and media have recently claimed.

"We reject that argument," he said, adding that China has cancelled most of the debt in Africa and has forged partnerships with African countries to help the development of the continent, which remains the world's poorest.

"The Chinese leadership has made it clear that they see relations with Africa as mutually beneficial, and we are quite happy with that," he said.

China's decision to limit its exports of textile products to South Africa for two years is a good example, Pahad said. South Africa's industry and trade unions have long accused low-price Chinese products of flocking into local market and against which they were unable to compete in order to survive.

"I think that is a good political indication that China is willing to listen, even if they don't necessarily agree, to see where they can help developing countries," Pahad said.

Pahad said he believed the portrayal of China both in western and some South African media as a "new colonialist power coming to exploit Africa" was a reflection of some powers which are "trying to project China negatively rather than showing China's entry into Africa as beneficial."

"Of course Africa has resources that China needs. But at the same time,China's entry into Africa is also beneficial to the African continent," he said.

"It's very easy on this continent for people to be subjected to so much negative propaganda that people begin to believe or tend to believe," he said. "We must fight to tackle that."

Pahad said it was very important for China and South Africa, the continent's strongest economy and currently a UN Security Council member, to maintain strategic relations.

He expected talks between President Hu and his South African counterpart Thabo Mbeki to focus not only on bilateral cooperation but also on key international issues, such as the reform of the UN, the World Trade Organization talks, "which are not going anywhere at the moment," and nuclear issues on the Korean Peninsula and in Iran.

A set of agreements dealing with South African fruit exports to China as well as cooperation in minerals and energy are to be signed during Hu's visit, scheduled for Feb. 6-8.

His tour also includes Cameroon, Liberia, Sudan, Zambia, Namibia, Mozambique and Seychelles.

Source: Xinhua