The Foreign Ministry denied yesterday that China and Zimbabwe were discussing a US$2 billion loan to stabilize Zimbabwe's economy.

 

Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular news briefing: "We looked for confirmation of the news with relevant departments, and there is no such deal."

 

Chris Mutsvangwa, Zimbabwean ambassador to China, was quoted on Friday by The Herald, a Zimbabwean newspaper, as saying that his country had opened talks with China on the loan in a move to stabilize its economy.

 

Western media too ran the story allegedly without confirmation from the ambassador, and alluded to the baseless fact that China is attracted to Zimbabwe's mineral resources such as uranium and platinum to fuel its booming economy.

 

Such stories trigger concern among certain Western countries that China's influence in Africa goes against their interests, especially after the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation that was held last month in Beijing, said Liu Naiya, an Africa expert of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)

 

"Actually, it is South-South Cooperation, or developing countries helping each other," Liu said.

 

The Western countries imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe believing its economic collapse would lead to political turmoil, and ultimately the stepping down of (President Robert) Mugabe and the formation of a new government, Liu said.

 

Some analysts say with inflation at more than 1,000 percent and the unemployment rate above 60 percent, Zimbabwe is experiencing its most difficult period since winning independence from the UK in 1980. The sanctions are believed to have greatly contributed to the hardship.

 

"While the Zimbabwean people are living in an extremely difficult situation, Western countries refuse to lend a helping hand unless all of their conditions are met," said He Wenping, director of the African Studies Section at the CASS.

 

The West considers aid from China, which attaches no political conditions, as something that upsets their plans, she said.

 

Qin also said that Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing would make his first foreign trip of the new year to Africa, with stops in Benin, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Chad, Central African Republic, Eritrea and Botswana from December 31 to January 7 of 2007.

 

Responding to a question on whether the Nanjing Massacre would be discussed at the first joint China-Japan study of history that opened in Beijing yesterday, Qin said the Japanese invasion of China and the Nanjing Massacre are historical facts that cannot be denied.

 

"There is a mass of ironclad evidence for the Nanjing Massacre, and the international community reached a final conclusion on it long ago," he noted.

 

President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed in October to begin the history research of the two countries by the end of the year, and the two foreign ministers agreed to release the results by the end of 2008.

 

Qin said he hoped the experts could conduct the study on the basis of principles of the three political documents signed between China and Japan and face history "correctly."

 

"We hope the study of 2,000 years of history between China and Japan as well as modern and post-WWII history will enhance the objective understanding of historical facts," he added.

 

"Positive momentum has been seen in the improvement and development of China-Japan relations, and we consider the joint study a correct decision as it will help both sides properly handle matters through dialogue and exchanges, and create the foundation for the future of bilateral relations," he said.

 

Also according to Qin, China has transferred 687.63 million yuan (US$87.93 million) of donations to tsunami-hit countries in the Indian Ocean, carrying out its pledge in full.

 

"All Chinese donations to the countries stricken by the Indian Ocean tsunami have been made, with most construction projects now complete and projects still under construction proceeding smoothly," Qin said.

 

This is the biggest emergency relief package that China has provided since 1949, he noted.

 

The catastrophic tsunami that occurred in the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004 left 37,000 people missing and caused US$4.5 billion of property losses.

 

The very next day, the Chinese government announced that it would provide 21.63 million yuan (US$2.77 million) worth of emergency humanitarian relief in kind and cash. Later it added disaster assistance of 500 million yuan (US$63.9 million) and multilateral donations of about 166 million yuan (US$21.2 million).

 

The Chinese government and people's actions were an embodiment of its good-neighborly policy of "forging friendship and partnership with neighbors" and had been highly appreciated by governments and people from the tsunami-hit countries as well as the international community, Qin said.

 

"We will continue to work with other countries on the projects still under construction to help the victim countries recover from the disaster," he added.

 

(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency December 27, 2006)