Zimbabweans see clearly that China and the Chinese people are their true friends and are grateful for the decades of aid programs China has provided, Ignatius Chombo, theSecretary of Administration of the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front(Zanu PF), said recently during a visit to China.
Chombo made the remarks on Thursday in Chongqing to clarify a recent allegation thatChinese aid programs, including Chinese aid workers, in Africa are losing popularity toJapanese programs, mainly because Chinese companies invested in Africa “paid littleattention to creating local jobs” and Chinese aid workers were not as meticulous as theirJapanese counterpart in terms of providing humanitarian care.
This allegation seems to stem from so-called new colonialism allegations that seek to incitean anti-China resentment in Africa.
But Chombo took the chance to clarify that the Zimbabwean people do not look at thematter in this way, saying that Zimbabwe’s colonial history made its people able to easilytell who the real colonizers are.
“Zimbabwe was colonized by Britain for more than 100 years so we don’t want to becolonized by any other country; one [colonial] country was enough. We fought for 50 yearsfor independence. The people who came to our side with assistance were Chinese, notJapanese or Americans,” said Chombo. “Those Western countries were on the other side,with those we were fighting against.” Chombo pointed out that Japan only came to aidZimbabwe and other African countries in recent years, whereas China started to helpAfrica even when it was a poverty-stricken country itself. It means that the time-testedrapport between China and Africa is immune to ill-intentioned allegations.
“Japan came to help Africa in order to entice Africans to vote for Japan in the UN. That’snot what we are after; we are after harmonious relations like those between China andZimbabwe,” said Chombo, whose office amounts to an acting party chief under thepresidency of Robert Mugabe.
Japan’s aggression during the World War II is another reason why many African peoplestill loathe Japan. “Japan attacked several countries, including China during the WorldWar II, so that it was once an aggressor.” He added.
Caption Ignatius Chombo, the secretary of administration of the Zimbabwe AfricanNational Union – Patriotic Front (Zanu PF) takes questions from the press in Chongqingon Oct. 13 during the CPC in Dialogue with the World 2016.
