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)