On September 24th, Chinese Ambassador to Sudan Ma Xinmin publishes an signature article titled Chinese Assistance to Africa Aims at Sincere Cooperation for the China Focus Column on Sudan Vision. The full text is as follows:
Chinese foreign aid, particularly Chinese aid to Africa, has always been one of the topics catching the attention of the international community. Some western countries intentionally throw mud at China, groundlessly accusing China of "pursuing neocolonialism through its aid to Africa", "bringing debt crisis to the beneficiary countries" and "having underlying purposes behind its aid". All of such accusations are totally groundless and absurd.
Dating back to the 1950s and committed to unconditionally helping African countries with their economic development, improvement of people's living standards and self-driven development, Chinese assistance to Africa has yielded fruitful results on the African continent, created touching stories, and contributed to the booming friendship between China and Africa, over the past six decades. The historical record indicates that China's aid to Africa is put on the path towards sincere cooperation.
Mutual respect and equal treatment are the original aspiration of Chinese aid to Africa. Staying benevolent, helping those in danger and in distress, and offering mutual support like passengers on the same boat, have been the fine traditions of the Chinese nation for long. China did remember to offer a helping hand to African countries, even when it was stuck in poverty itself. In the 1950s, shortly after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chinese people who were struggling against financial stress and the scarcity of materials at that time, offered free aid to African countries by "tightening their belt". Since the end of the 1970s when China launched its epoch-making reform and opening-up drive, China has experienced steady growth in economy and comprehensive national strength, but still remains true to its original aspiration of treating the vast number of developing countries in Africa as close partners and has taken active measures to not only provide assistance to but also forge mutually beneficial cooperation with African countries on the basis of mutual respect, equality and free will, assisting African countries in developing their economy, improving living standards of their peoples and bringing a better life to their peoples. Holding the belief that "you do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you", China always shows respect to the sovereignty of beneficiary countries and their right to independently choose their development paths and models, with no strings attached to its foreign aid.
Pursuit of tangible benefits and common development demonstrates China's sincerity in its assistance to Africa. Chinese assistance to Africa is primarily aimed at fighting against poverty and improving livelihoods. Aside from offering support to African countries for their agricultural development, rise in education levels, improvement to medical conditions, and construction of public facilities, China has provided timely humanitarian assistance to African countries when they suffer from serious natural disasters and built in African countries a large number of infrastructure that benefits national economy and people's livelihood. Attaching equal importance to "handing out fish" and "passing on fishing skills", China has been making unremitting efforts, in the form of cooperation on human resource development and technological assistance, for example, to aid African countries in enhancing their own capacity for independent development and cultivate a large group of local intellectuals and technological manpower for African countries, enabling them to embark on the path of self-reliance and independent development. China has delivered tangible benefits to the developing countries in Africa.
China will remain determined to honor its commitments and link its future with the Africa's, while providing assistance to Africa. China's sincere assistance to African countries has been uninterrupted for over half a century. The Chinese government has announced a package of targeted and increasingly strong measures concerning its assistance to Africa, at the UN MDG high-level meeting, at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and in other multiple international events, honoring its commitments with tangible results. Thanks to the joint efforts of China and all African countries, a number of assistance programs have taken root one after another on the African continent, witnessing China's fulfillment of its commitments. The Chinese nation has always been convinced that "everyone belongs to one family in a united world" and advocated universal love and harmony between all nations, looking forward to a "just world for the common good". Seeing African countries as brothers whose future is closely linked to China's and also family members under the same roof, China is pleased to share with all African countries the economic and social progress of humanity and work together with them to strive for the China-Africa community with a shared future.
As an old proverb goes, "the rose's in her hand, the flavor in mine". China's original aspiration, sincerity and determination towards its assistance to Africa will remain unchanged, and China will make concrete efforts to instill durable driving forces into China-Africa friendship and contribute to jointly building a harmonious world community.