President Ramaphosa and President Xi Jinping inspecting the guard of honour during a state visit
By ABBEYMAKOE
“Blossoms in Spring turn into fruit in autumn, and a bumper harvest is the reward of hard work,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said during his key address to the Forum on Africa-China Cooperation (FOCAC), held in the capital, Beijing this week.
Coming from a leader who has overseen one of history’s miracle-filled economic prosperity, the words carried literal and figurative weight as some 50 African heads of state sat in an attentive spell inside the majestic Great Hall of the People.
In added significance to the far-reaching geopolitical implications of the moment, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sat quietly next to the Chinese President during the world-wide broadcast of the event.
The Chair of the AU Commission, Moussa Amahat, also sat in attendance.
It was impossible to miss the figurative winds of change as they blew ferociously. President Xi, undoubtedly history’s man-of-the-moment, summed it up rather tellingly, saying to the packed majestic People’s Hall: “We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with each other to firmly defend our legitimate rights and interests as once-in-a-century changes sweep across the world.”
A spontaneous eruption of applause followed, marked by a huge sense of endorsement of President’s Xi’s strong sentiments. Indeed, relations between China and Africa are “the best in history”, according to the Chinese leader. He announced the elevation of relations with al African states with ties to China to a new level he described as an “all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era”.
And as President Xi stood on the podium in the full knowledge that the world was paying collective attention, albeit for different reasons – my mind rushed to what some scholars of international relations often allude to.
The international world order is undergoing geopolitical changes of great significance, they argue.
Watching a gathering akin to the symbolism of a world divided right down the middle, President Xi appeared like the undisputed protagonist in the global changes underway.
The aura and spirit of Chairman Mao, China’s greatest revolutionary leader and the forebear of the rejuvenated modern-day Communist Party of China (CPC), loomed large inside and outside of the “Great Hall of the People”.
Chairman Mao must have been watching from the extra-ordinary gathering from the Heavens with great pride in President Xi, the man who has catapulted China to one of the world’s only two biggest economies alongside the US.
The difference between the two economies, however, is that China’s rise to glory and stardom in world politics was achieved within a relatively shorter period of time, and without colonising any country, invading the sovereign territory of opponents, or imposing unilateral sanctions against adversaries.
The foreign policy of China is consistently premised on the notion and spirit of the pursuit of a shared future, a win-win cooperation where Beijing never ever gets involved in the internal affairs of sovereign states.
The UN’s Guterres captured it well in his observation, lauding China’s rise in global affairs and attributing the newly-found acquired status of China’s as a catalyst for South-South relations.
That statement alone was loaded. At face value, it could be understood to acknowledge China as a magnet of the oftentimes marginalised developing states of the Global South.
It is an attribute of great significance, particularly coming from the world’s number one diplomat.
The entire Global South stands on the huge shoulders of China today.
As the “once-in-a-century changes” are happening live on international television networks and social media platforms, President Xi was rallying the leaders of the developing economies of Africa invoking unity of purpose.
“We always empathise with and support each other, setting a stellar example of a new type of international relations,” President Xi said. The “new” way of pursuing international relations was a statement, a declaration of unmistakable intent.
The old way is gone, abandoned by President Xi’s China and Africa as a whole as it did not serve their interests. Now, under the leadership of China, the Global South has placed its destiny in its own hands. A win-win cooperation in pursuit of a shared future is what China espouses.
Context is vital in debate, and President Xi also painted a historical picture that helped to explain the present situation of today.
“Modernisation,” President Xi argued, “is an inalienable right of all countries.” But there are reasons that have held back Africa’s development throughout the continent’s colonial history and modern-day’s structural impediments.
“The Western approach to (modernisation) has inflicted immense sufferings on developing countries,” he said.
True to form, President Xi did not simply complain and lambaste the West for their role in the suppression of Africa and the developing economies.
He laid down a bold 10-point plan for a joint pursuit of modernisation alongside the African continent, which has been described as the “10 partnership actions” that will the renaissance of the Global South at large.
The objective is to implement the plan in the next three years, and the strategy has been reinforced with a commitment of $50 billion.
The plan will enhance Africa’s reawakening in line with the AU Agenda 2063.
“The continent is marching in solid strides towards modernisation,” President Xi said.
The Chinese 10-point plan was spelt out by President Xi in the following order:
(1) Mutual learning among civilisations. Here, China plans to invite at least 1 000 members of the governing African political parties to “deepen exchanges of experience in party and state governance. China will open an additional 25 centres on Africa-China studies across the continent.
(2) Trade partnership, where China will voluntarily open its markets wider. In addition, at least 33 countries will instantly receive zero-tariff treatment.
(3) Industrial chain cooperation. Here, China will, together with Africa, build digital technology centres and assist the continent to pursue technological revolution and industrial transformation.
(4) Partnership action for connectivity will see the establishment of a China-Africa network featuring land-sea links. China will also assist in the development of the much-anticipated African Free-Trade Area and deepen logistics and financial cooperation.
(5) Development cooperation, where China will implement 1 000 livelihood projects.
(6) Health cooperation, where China will establish with Africa hospitals alliance and joint medical centres. Beijing will further send 2 000 medical personnel to Africa, and 20 programmes of health facilities and malaria treatment.
(7) Agriculture and livelihoods. Immediately, China will make available at least one-billion yuan in emergency food assistance and build 100 000 agriculture demonstration areas as part of China-Africa agricultural science and technology innovation alliance. Additionally, Beijing will send 500 experts to promote community welfare.
(8) People-to-people exchanges, which will include cooperation on innovation in radio, TV, audio and visual programmes. The two sides agreed to designate 2026 as the China-Africa year of people-to-people exchanges.
(9) Green development. Here President Xi said his country will embark on peaceful use of nuclear technology with Africa, establish 30 joint laboratories, and collaborate on satellite remote sensing and lunar and deep-space exploration.
(10) Common security, where China make available more than 1billion dollars in military assistance, provide military and police training and initiate exchange programme in law enforcement.
There also be joint military exercises, training and patrols and carrying out a mine-free Africa.
These initiatives were correctly welcomed widely by the rest of the continental leadership that gathered in Beijing. One after the other, they held bilateral meetings with President Xi and among themselves. Big business leadership from the continent also interacted with their Chinese counterparts, as was the case with South Africa, where agreements such as easing visa restrictions and provision of electric vehicles was entered into.
FOCAC served to showcase the benefits of mutually beneficial relations among allies with mutual respect for each other and pursuit of win-win goals.
*Abbey Makoe is Founder and Editor-in-Chief: Global South Media Network
Sunday Independent