The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Zambia to the United Nations (UN) has scuttled the propaganda that China is moving on to colonise Zambia through its loans and financial development assistance to the country.
Ms Christine Kalamwina, Zambia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) has said Zambia and China have had long bilateral relations anchored on common understanding and mutual respect since 1964 when Zambia gained her independence from British colonial rule.
Answering questions from students from Columbia University’s International Relations Council and Association, Ms Kalamwina said Zambia is aware that there is a campaign against Chinese investment and loans in Zambia from which the country has over time benefited exponentially in the development of its economic infrastructure.
The Colombia University students visited the Zambia Mission to the UN under the Columbia Model United Nations Conference and Exposition (CMUNCE) Diplomatic Visit Program last week.
The students, in some of their questions wondered whether it was true that China was about to colonise Zambia after the country had gained her independence from British colonial rule in 1964.
The students claimed that as a result of the loans Zambia has acquired from the China and investment in the country, China has started taking over some of the country’s strategic economic infrastructure.
But Ms Kalamwina told the students that it was not true that China has taken over Zambia’s sensitive and strategic economic infrastructure and that the information the students had was nothing but negative propaganda against China for making Africa its investment destination of choice.
She explained that China is not the only country that has invested in Zambia as the policy of the Government is to attract investment from any part of the world including Japan and the United States of America.
Ms Kalamwina said Zambia has one of the longest relationship with China among African countries dating back to five months after independence in 1964 when the Chinese Government offered to help with the construction of the 1,860 km Zambia-Tanzania Railway which was built between 1970 and 1975.
“There has been a lot of negative talk about Chinese loans and investment in Zambia. Now we have the propaganda that China is slowly taking over Zambia’s assets in the attempt to colonise the country. Zambia is a sovereign State and the United Nations declared that Zambia should be a self- governing territory in 1964. There is no way China is going to colonise Zambia. Zambia and China have had long bilateral relationship and Zambia has benefited a lot from Chinese investment. The Government of Zambia allows and attracts investment from any part of the world including Japan, the USA, Canada and many other countries,” Ms Kalmwina said.
And Ms Kalamwina said many countries are competing to invest in Zambia because the country has been politically stable since independence and that the government has created an attractive investment environment.
She said Zambia has remained one of the most politically stable in Africa and that the country is actively involved in the promotion of peace in many parts of the world.
She also shared with the students the contributions Zambia is making in fostering global peace through the deployment of peace-keeping troops to the UN.
Ms Kalamwina told the students that Zambia has been home to thousands of refugees fleeing from other countries which are engulfed in civil strife and political turmoil.
She also discussed with the students the efforts Zambia is making to end Child Early and Forced marriages through the revision of some of the customary and statutory laws.
On gender equality, Ms Kalamwina said Zambia has performed well in mainstreaming gender in all sectors with the country’s Vice-President being female as well as the head of the Judiciary which is headed by a female.
China is in Africa to solve 5 problems:-
1. Excessive population& over-crowded prisons – They are dumping excessive population of mostly rural Chinese & prisoners into Africa
2. Shortage of raw materials – They send Chinese to loot minerals, timber, fish-rights etc.
3. Cash surplus – They give deliberately give huge interest loans to F00Lish African govts for infrastructure works with all contracts awarded to Chinese firms. They know that we’ll fail to repay. When Govt defaults, they demand control of strategic state companies, ports, airports, prime land, mining rights, fishing rights, timber licenses, visas for their excessive population
4. Plenty construction companies without work – China has been building 11 cities the size of New York every year. Most of them are ghost cities…
CONT’D..
are ghost cities. That’s why they’re sending their construction firms to Africa, financed by low-free loans to F00Lish African governments.
5. A market for their sub-standard finished products – Chinese have come to create China Malls which only sell Chinese sub-standard products. They deal only in cash to evade tax.
At the end of the day Africans have no benefit apart from shiny roads. Our youths don’t get employed as Chinese come with their own workers & prisoners. They pay slave-wages to the few locals who are employed. By the time we open our eyes, all our natural resources & prime land will be in the hands of Chinese
This propaganda from our detractors is a bunch of bull … just like the mines were recently threatening to fire workers once the new tax regime took effect.
Here are some simple fact to digest. Total Chinese debt to the smart people of the Zambian Enterprise is only $3B. Donald J Trump is asking for $5.7B just to build a wall to keep people out.
Trump’s ask is almost twice our debt to China. Here is another number … total Zambian External Debt stock is only $9B, total debt stock for the US for instance is $21.87 Trillion as of December, 2018
Total US Budget is $3.8 Trillion which is 7 times more than their debt stock, compare that with GRZ budget and GDP’s ratio to debt stock is manageable.
Only Gay Gay and Spooked would buy this nonsense. Nostra is too smart to fall for…
@ BR Mumba seriously ? Are you convinced with your analogy ? Even bringing in the wall issue comparing it to our debt with China? Hehehehe bwana you need to resubmit maybe you wrongly sent it … Come back to Zambia and see what the same US is doing to “help” your poor countrt…. This is a very flawed argument and as a person that does put in reasonable arguments at times u will have to retract this one …unless of course it is a joke or indeed u are purely playing cadreism like Sunday Chanda does
Nice job Deputy. However, I have noticed misunderstanding. Is not about China investment in Zambia but China loaning Zambia for development. Are we not going to be forced to surrender some of our values if we fail to pay back?
Proof 1
Last year, there was tension in the country after the police swore in new reserve officers who were Chinese nationals and had rights to arrest citizens of Zambia in Zambia! The eight officers were presented to the public wearing the Zambian police uniforms.
An outcry forced the police department to remove them from duty.
Poof 2
Kenyan legal luminary and renowned Pan-Africanist was denied entry into Zambia over a China-Africa lecture.
It was reported by Africa Confidential that the country was on the verge of losing its electricity company ZESCO to China after defaulting on loan repayment.
The report further indicated that the national broadcaster ZNBC was already being run by the Chinese. The government denied the allegations and vowed to take legal action.
Proof 3
Two Chinese nationals were arrested last week in Livingstone for taking nine Zambians wearing military fatigue through an illegal military training.
The 11 suspects were in possession of one pistol, seven shotguns and one big air gun with a box containing shotgun ammunition, reported local media Lusaka Times.
The nine Zambians were reported to be members of a private security firm and were wearing uniforms that looked similar to those of the National Parks and Wildlife Authority.
The Southern Province Police Commissioner, Bonnie Kapeso said in a statement that the Chinese trainers had imported the military fatigue from China.
Proof 4
State-owned Times of Zambia newspaper made matters worse when they published an article in the Chinese language Mandarin for its millions of readers who speak either English or the over half a dozen official languages of Zambia.
The Chinese article was titled ‘We’ve still got it’ and it was written by one Steven Zande. It is reported that the article was a translation of the English version of a story on the front page about President Edgar Lungu’s vow to uphold national interests in his dealings with foreign investors.
The article created the expected uproar and outrage especially when the public was dealing with the fear of a takeover.
The Information Minister and chief government spokesperson Dora Siliya quickly explained on Twitter that the Chinese story was a business…
… strategy to increase revenue and tap into the Chinese advertising market.
“Times of Zambia aiming to increase revenue by targeting Chinese market. Today’s edition has a Chinese version of top story. They want to tap into Chinese advertising. Who moved my cheese? Times of Zambia responding,” she tweeted.
If the media goes in that direction, then the Chinese will control information, education and entertainment as their government does in Beijing and all of China.
@Yangu thank you ????
We have had police reservist of other nationalities just to mention, Indians, Whites and Lebanese and no one raised any qualms. The Chinese are a smart people and the best we can do is emulate their work culture and also learn how they developed so fast from a 3rd world country and overtake the superpowers in nearly all spheres. They are in places where there is money which you bloggers have not seen but busy complaining on a daily basis.
All because of people that speak negatively of their own country for political expediency. We should enact a law against spreading unfounded lies against the country and treat the nation of Zambia as a citizen that also needs protection against defamation. I’m disappointed in such people.
@Ndoleshyafye, I don’t see any unfounded lie here. All I see is people speaking up their minds. Which one is a lie to you?
@Ndoleshyafye, I won’t hire you as my guard because it would be Christmas for thieves.
In any case it wouldn’t be a bad idea. They can bring development very fast to Zambia. Let’s say a controlled one where they don’t come enmass would not be remiss!!
Oh okay maybe not, keep it like it right now. They have helped us scale up our infrastructure no end. Western countries on the other hand, want to colonise us by trying to tell us who should be at the helm for every pence they give. Trouble with Western people!