As China's assistance to Africa continues to expand, Western media continue to smear China. They accuse China of "neocolonialism," of intending to control Africa's energy and mineral resources, and of creating a "debt trap" for Africa. Then, what is the real situation? Who is the genuine assistance provider to Africa?

Support for national liberation of Africa

After the end of World War II, the imperialist forces took a hard hit, and the colonial system suffered negative impacts. At the same time, the national consciousness of the people of Asia, Africa, and Latin America grew rapidly, so they launched national independence and liberation movements on an unprecedented scale. Especially in the 1950s, the will of the African people to get rid of colonial rule continued to grow. In this historical context, China began to provide assistance to Africa.

Starting in 1948, in the face of the racial segregation imposed by South Africa's apartheid regime, the South African Indian Congress (SAIC), an important non-white political organization in South Africa, together with the African National Congress (ANC) and other organizations, launched resistance activities.

In September 1950, Mao Zedong sent a telegram to A. I. Meer and J. N. Singh, the joint secretaries of the Conference of SAIC, expressing his full support for their opposition to racial discrimination against and oppression of the nonwhite population in South Africa. China's support for the national independence movement and liberation of African countries made the people there feel the justice and goodwill from the far East.

In 1955, the Bandung Conference was held successfully, which promoted the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the African countries and boosted China's assistance to Africa. Zhou Enlai, the then Chinese foreign minister, emphasized at the conference that safeguarding national independence and sovereignty and opposing foreign interference were common challenges confronting Asian, African, and Latin American countries, and that they should seek common ground while shelving differences and look towards a common basis for the maintenance of peace and cooperation. Zhou's speech fully demonstrated that China's diplomatic philosophy was different from the political interference and ideological export of colonial powers, and further opened up a new horizon for China's international relations.

During this period, the People's Republic of China, which had just experienced the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the War of Liberation, and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, was weak, but yet did its best to assist African countries in their quest for independence.

In 1956, England and France waged the Second Arab-Israeli War (the Suez Crisis), in order to seize control of the Suez Canal of Egypt. To support Egypt in recovering the sovereignty of the Suez Canal, China provided the nation with 20 million Swiss francs in cash as well as a large amount of material assistance. In 1954, Algeria launched an anti-colonial war, and China provided it with lots of material and military assistance. Former Algerian President Houari Boumediene recalled that the guns, blankets and clothes used by Algerian soldiers at that time were all supplied by China. In 1958, Algeria established a provisional government, and China was the first non-Arab country to recognize its legal status, and provided material and cash assistance worth more than RMB 70 million.

Aid for economic development of Africa

After achieving national liberation and independence, those new African countries faced difficulties in survival and development. The former colonial powers took advantage of the situation and resorted to either economic assistance or blockade in an attempt to continue their control over Africa. France threatened Guinea, Mali and some other newly independent African countries by cutting off their economic assistance, in an attempt to maintain the original unequal relations. What's more, the United States used economic means to foster pro-American regimes, to compete with the Soviet Union for power in Africa and to safeguard its military interests there.

Under such circumstances, China pushed Africa to embark on a path of independent development by helping African countries enhance their development capacity. In October 1958, China's central authorities approved the Request for Instructions Concerning Strengthening Leadership over Foreign Economic and Technical Aid Work, emphasizing that China should help those countries in need to build up their own industrial foundation in accordance with their specific situation, adopt measures suitable to local conditions, and combine mainly medium and small-scale projects with indigenous initiatives.

To this end, China began to assist African countries in bolstering infrastructure construction to build up primary production sectors. In order to help African countries that lacked capital to build their own production capacity, China provided zero-interest loans to promote their infrastructure construction. In 1965, China signed an agreement with the Ugandan government to provide ₤4.3 million in long-term zero-interest loans to Uganda within five years for the construction of rice farms, tea plantations, textile factories, tire factories, paper mills, steel plants, among others.

The construction of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (also known as Tazara Railway) demonstrated that China attached great importance to infrastructure assistance. In 1967, China provided nearly RMB 1 billion zero-interest loans to Tanzania and Zambia to build the Tazara Railway. The railway is an economic artery connecting the two nations, which is referred to by the African people as the Friendship Railway.

In 1960, Mali gained independence from French colonial rule but faced difficulties such as shortages of essential goods. At that time, tea and sugar were daily necessities for the Malian people. Mali had to spend large amounts of foreign exchange to purchase tea and sugar from Western countries every year.

In 1961, it spent more than $2.5 million importing sugar from Luxembourg and France, thus bearing a heavy financial burden. The Malian government requested technical assistance from France to achieve independent production, but France refused, citing unsuitable local conditions. Therefore, the Malian leader turned to China for help.

In 1962, Chinese agricultural specialists arrived in Mali, cultivating sugarcane in the field despite the hot weather. One year later, they succeeded in helping Mali cultivate sugarcane, exposing the lie of France. The large-scale cultivation provided ample raw materials for Mali to produce sugar. Based on that, China aided Mali in building a sugar refinery capable of processing 400 tons of sugarcane per day in 1966, adequately fulfilling the living needs of the Malian people.

No political strings attached in aid

China highly respects the sovereignty of African countries. In its communication with Africa, it especially stresses non-interference in each other's internal affairs and non-indoctrination of ideology.

In 1957, Zhou Enlai noted in his speech at the third session of the Second National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference that China was providing Asian and African countries with economic assistance to the best of its ability, which was modest but without any conditions attached.

From December 1963 to February 1964, Zhou visited ten African countries including Ghana and Mali, further clarifying China's basic principles of foreign aid. During his meeting with Ghanaian President Francis Nwia Kwame Nkrumah, Zhou put forward eight principles guiding China's economic aid and technical assistance to other countries, explicitly stating that the Chinese government, when providing foreign aid, would strictly respect the sovereignty of the recipient country and never attach any political strings. This basic principle has dictated China's assistance to Africa.

In June 1968, Tanzanian President Julius Kambarage Nyerere, during his visit to China, said that Tanzania would pursue a socialist path of development. Zhou responded that China could provide some principles for African countries to accomplish their national democratic revolution and undergo the socialist revolution, but African people should find their own way to combine the principles with the African circumstances and turn them into an African experience. His answer not only showed China's respect for the sovereignty of African countries, but also expressed its willingness to share governance experience, helping African countries embark on the path of independent development.

In 1958, the Republic of Guinea became the first African country to gain independence from French colonial rule. To bring Guinea back under its control, France cut off all the economic relations with and financial assistance to Guinea. Despite facing serious economic difficulties at that time, China responded to Guinea's urgent plea for help by donating 10,000 tonnes of rice for free. In 1961, French President Charles de Gaulle sent his special envoy François Mitterrand to China to convey his intention that France would like to establish diplomatic relations with China on the condition that China abandoned its support for Algeria. However, Mao Zedong firmly rejected the proposal. Finally, with the support of China, Algeria officially declared its independence in 1962.

China has been assisting Africa without any political conditions attached, further strengthening Sino-African relations. Concerned with China's growing impact in Africa, the Western countries, led by the United States, have been falsely portraying Chinese aid as "Communist expansion." However, China's sincere communication and pragmatic assistance to Africa has helped break through the political and ideological interference of Western anti-China forces in African countries, as well as the diplomatic blockade against China. In 1959, Guinea became the first sub-Saharan African country to establish diplomatic relations with China. Since then, China has continued to make more and more friends in Africa.

Sincere support wins genuine recognition

In the process of assisting Africa, China has always respected the African people and never regarded assistance as a one-sided gift.

To ensure timely implementation of assistance activities, China has adopted the principle of "prioritizing the production of foreign aid equipment, ensuring the supply of auxiliary products, raw materials, fuel, and packaging materials for foreign aid, and prioritizing transportation capacity." Following this principle, when there was a shortage of raw materials and equipment for foreign aid, China reallocated raw materials from domestic projects to ensure the delivery of high-quality and high-standard products to the recipient countries.

In addition, the specialists sent by the Chinese government to the recipient countries for assistance enjoyed the same material treatment as local experts, and they were not allowed any special treatment or privileges. Chinese experts stayed in temporary sheds and participated in manual work; Chinese workers overcame the harsh conditions for construction, and many of them have even lost their lives there. In 1973, Ugandan President Idi Amin convened a meeting of diplomats stationed in Uganda at the construction site of the Kibimba Rice Scheme built with Chinese assistance, and said to the attending diplomats: "Look at the Chinese experts. They stayed in temporary sheds, participated in labor, while your experts stayed in high-rise buildings issuing orders to us. In fact, you have taken more from us than you have given. Look at how these Chinese experts do their work."

Recognizing China's assistance, African countries expressed their support for China. On October 25, 1971, the United Nations General Assembly restored the People's Republic of China's lawful seat at its 26th session. Among the 23 countries that initiated the proposal to restore China's lawful seat, 11 were African countries, and of the 76 votes in favor, 26 came from African countries. Subsequently, China witnessed a third wave of diplomatic recognition. From 1971 to the end of 1978, a total of 52 countries established diplomatic relations with China, nearly half of which were African countries.

A review of the history shows that the journey of Western modernization was marked by the anguish and suffering of African people. They endured the horrors of the slave trade, the oppressive grip of colonial rule, and the exploitation of their resources by colonial powers. Furthermore, the West had persistently distorted African history, maligning the African people as an inferior race and denying them the right to independent development. After the African people achieved national independence and liberation, Western countries attempted to control Africa using their political and economic advantages to maximize their vested interests.

In this context, China's assistance model, based on independence, freedom, and equality, undoubtedly provides the sincerest support and assistance to African countries that aspire to accelerate their development while maintaining their own independence.

The authors are Song Wei, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Commerce, and Yin Haoran, a researcher at the Institute of International Relations, China Foreign Affairs University.

Liu Xian /Editor    Shi Song /Translator

Yang Xinhua /Chief Editor    Liu Xian /Coordination Editor

Liu Li /Reviewer

Zhang Weiwei /Copyeditor    Tan Yujie /Image Editor

The views don't necessarily reflect those of DeepChina.