The former Chinese Ambassador to Yemen and Syria, Shi Yanchun,
recalled his friendship with African leaders and spoke about
Sino-African relations in an exclusive interview with China.com.cn
on Thursday. An excerpt follows:
Asked about the friendship between him and Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak, Ambassador Shi recalled his first meeting with
Mubarak in December 1982 when he was the chief interpreter of a
high-level Chinese delegation visiting Egypt. Mubarak left a deep
impression on Shi for his health, vivacity and friendly attitude to
China. President Mubarak several times told Chinese guests that he
had a special affection for China. He highly valued Sino-Egyptian
relations and was confident in the future of bilateral cooperation.
On issues such as the Middle-East situation, Mubarak had an
insider’s perspective and exchanged it with Chinese leaders in
details, said Shi.
In April 1983, Mubarak paid his first visit to China. This
occasion was the first state visit undertaken by an Egyptian
president since the establishment of Sino-Egyptian diplomatic
relations. Then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping held a welcoming
ceremony and spoke about his views on international situation
placing Sino-American and Sino-African relations at the heart of
the matter. After the ceremony, Mubarak praised Deng Xiaoping as a
great statesman and strategist who had a broad and long-term view
and expressed his sincere respect and admiration to Deng, Shi
recalled.
Shi began his work as the first secretary to Egypt in the first
half of 1984 and since then he has established a good relationship
with Mubarak. This May, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of
Sino-Egyptian diplomatic ties, Shi published a biography of Mubarak
entitled the Son of the Nile. Mubarak wrote a letter to Shi
in which he said he was in favor of the title and hoped that
Chinese readers would like this book.
Besides President Mubarak, Ambassador Shi keeps close contact
and maintains friendships with many other African leaders such as
Libyan Leader Colonel Gaddafi, the Moroccan King Mohammed VI,
Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba and Sudanese President Omar
Al-Bashir.
When asked to comment on Chinese and Egyptian cultures, Shi said
that both are great civilizations with a long history and had made
huge contributions to the world. With abundant cultural heritage
and historic relics, China and Egypt have promising futures for
their tourism industries. However, there are differences between
Chinese and Egyptian cultures due to their geographic locations.
For Egypt, parts of it are located in Asia while others are in
Africa and Mediterranean regions closer to Europe. Thus Egyptian
culture is a mixture of Asian, African and European influences.
Another difference is that the ancient Egyptian culture was
intermittent and its characters have not been inherited
nowadays.
On Sino-African relations, Shi said that Egypt was the first
African country to establish diplomatic relations with China on May
30, 1956. Since Egypt is an important African country, the
establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties added great influence
and meaning to the Sino-African relations.
Not long after the establishment of the People’s Republic of
China, leaders like Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai set
up a principle to firmly support African countries. China offered
African countries assistance?in their economy, technology,
human resources, medical care and other aspects. For example, China
helped Egypt build its international conference center, the
first?of its kind?in Egypt. Furthermore, China and
African countries started mutually beneficial cooperation in
telecommunication, oil refining, textiles, agricultural machinery,
medical care, aviation and the space industry. Moreover, exchanges
and cooperation on sports, culture, journalism, people-to-people
exchanges and arts are expanding.
Support from African countries to China is also very precious.
First and foremost came their great support for the restoration of
China's seat in the United Nations in 1971. Furthermore on the
issues of Taiwan, Tibet and Falun Gong, African countries have
always supported China. Now the bilateral cooperation aims to
pursue a win-win situation.
China and African countries have no essential conflicts of
interest and the long-term friendly Sino-African relationship has
set a good basis for its further development. The leaders and
peoples from both sides have a lasting wish to develop their
relationship and cooperation. The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation
(FOCAC) is a new milestone for Sino-African
relationship. Eight important measures will come out and the
Beijing Declaration will be issued at the FOCAC Beijing Summit.
This will promote Sino-African relations and draw a bright future
for further development, Shi observed. The Sino-African relations
will enjoy a broader and deeper development, he added.
(China.com.cn by Li Shen, November 4, 2006)