At the end of his official visits to Congo (Brazzaville) and Sierra Leone, Yang Jiechi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, was interviewed by Xinhua News Agency on December 6.
We note that your visit to Africa took place just after the eighth ministerial meeting of the Forum on Central African Cooperation. The most remarkable thing about this meeting is that President Xi Jinping announced a series of new measures for cooperation with Africa at the opening ceremony of the meeting. How will China implement the above measures?
At the recently concluded Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, President Xi Jinping put forward the four-point proposal of building a community with a shared future between China and Africa in the new era, announced the implementation of the "Nine Projects", and drew up a blueprint for China's cooperation with Africa in the next three years, which fully met the needs of the African side and was warmly welcomed by the African side. In the next step, China will communicate closely with the African side, implement item by item, and promote China-Africa cooperation to move towards high quality, benefiting people's livelihood and sustainability.
The first is to adhere to unity and fight the epidemic, and we are anxious about what the African side is anxious about. At present, the access and vaccination rate of COVID-19 in African countries is generally low, the risk of epidemic is high, and it is imperative to eliminate the immunization gap and solve the unfair distribution of vaccines. President Xi Jinping announced the provision of another 1 billion doses of vaccines to Africa, of which 600 million doses are free aid and 400 million doses are jointly produced by Chinese enterprises and relevant African countries. China will connect with African countries as soon as possible, arrange vaccine supply, transportation and other links in a flexible manner, help African countries achieve the goal set by the African Union for 60% of the African population to be vaccinated by 2022, and at the same time implement measures such as aiding the construction of 10 medical and health projects, dispatching 1,500 medical team members and public health experts, and make new contributions to ensuring the life and health of African people with practical actions.
The second is to adhere to the closeness to people's livelihood and support Africa to achieve economic recovery. The economies of African countries have been severely impacted by the epidemic, and it is the expectation to resume growth and improve people's livelihood. Under the framework of the "Nine Projects" of the Forum, China will accelerate the implementation of measures that meet the most urgent needs of Africa's development, especially to establish a "green channel" for the export of African agricultural products to China, further expand the scope of products exported to China by African least developed countries with zero tariff treatment, provide trade financing, support Africa's exports to China, so as to achieve the goal of importing US$300 billion of goods from Africa in the next three years; promote enterprise investment through the establishment of the "China-Africa Private Investment Promotion Platform", support the development of African small and medium-sized enterprises, and help Africa industrialization • to lend a portion of the additional special drawing rights issued by the International Monetary Fund to African countries in order to solve Africa's urgent needs. It is believed that these practical measures will surely provide strong support for Africa's post-epidemic economic recovery.
The third is to promote the transformation and upgrading of China-Africa cooperation and continuously enhance the ability of sustainable development. Africa is one of the most vulnerable regions to combat climate change. China will work with Africa to advocate the concept of green and low-carbon, in accordance with the Dakar Action Plan (2022-2024) and the Declaration on China-Africa Cooperation on Climate Change adopted at the forum, vigorously develop renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy, assist Africa in the implementation of green environmental protection and climate change response projects, build low-carbon demonstration zones and climate change adaptation demonstration zones in Africa, provide practical support in technology and capacity building, and help Africa avoid "pollution first, After governance" the old way. China will also assist Africa in the implementation of digital economy projects, build a China-Africa satellite remote sensing application cooperation center, support the construction of China-Africa joint laboratories, partner research institutes, and scientific and technological innovation cooperation bases, work together to expand "Silk Road e-commerce" cooperation, and effectively help African countries narrow the "digital divide" and catch up with the pace of global digital economy development.
The fourth is to safeguard fairness and justice and safeguard the common interests of Central Africa and developing countries. Against the background of century-long changes, the cause of world peace and development has encountered the adverse currents of unilateralism, protectionism and hegemonism, and Africa, as the continent with the largest concentration of developing countries, has suffered greatly in this regard. China and Africa should closely communicate and exchange, strengthen coordination, hold high the banner of multilateralism, adhere to the legitimate views of China and Africa and the vast number of developing countries, and promote the development of the international order in a more just and reasonable direction. China is willing to work with the African side to promote more countries and international organizations to join the Global Development Initiative and the African Development Partnership Initiative, so as to form a stronger synergy of the international community in supporting Africa's development.
Second, the international community has a lot of discussion about the upcoming "Leaders' Democracy Summit" held by the United States. The discussion about what is true democracy and good democracy is very lively, what is your opinion?
Democracy is an important symbol of the progress of human civilization and a common value of all mankind. In the history of the development of world civilization, different countries and nationalities have thought, explored and practiced democracy. People-oriented thought runs through China's ideological and political history for thousands of years, and is also one of the important sources of ideas for people's democracy in the whole process of China in the new era. Democracy has undergone a process of continuous development in many countries of the world and will continue to be perfected, and no democracy is the ultimate and unchanging democracy.
True democracy is when the people are in charge. As President Xi Jinping pointed out, democracy is not an ornament, not used for decoration, but to solve the problems that the people need to solve, and the ways to achieve democracy are diverse, not only the Western model of democracy. The only criterion for evaluating the quality of a country's democracy is to achieve the happiness and satisfaction of the people.
Democracy is the right of all peoples and has never been the preserve of any country. Some countries do not respect international democratic consultation, designate who is a "democratic country" according to their own standards, and who is eligible to participate in the so-called "democratic summit", and do non-democratic things under the guise of democracy, which is actually a betrayal of the democratic spirit. This will only incite ideological contradictions and camp confrontations around the world and run counter to the general trend of world peace and development cooperation, which will of course arouse the doubts and dissatisfaction of the international community.
Democracy should be rooted in the reality of national ideology, culture, social and economic development, and should not be imposed from outside, let alone become an instrument of hegemony. Some countries do not respect the sovereignty of other countries, are keen on "exporting democracy," and even launch wars abroad, seriously undermining international and regional peace and stability. A series of bitter lessons in international relations have repeatedly proved that the imposition of democracy by foreign countries has brought endless disasters, ranging from disobedience to the land and water, social unrest, and people's livelihood, to the fragmentation of the homeland, bloody conflicts, and the displacement of refugees. The vast number of developing countries have long recognized the harm of imposing American-style "democracy," the call for mutual respect and equal treatment has become increasingly loud, and their determination to safeguard sovereignty, oppose foreign interference, and firmly control their destiny in their own hands has become firmer.
At present, the new crown pneumonia epidemic has promoted the in-depth development of the world's century-old changes. Global issues require the international community to transcend differences in different systems, strengthen consultation on an equal footing, achieve inclusiveness, mutual trust, coordination and cooperation, and respond more effectively to global challenges. China is willing to work with Africa and other countries in the world to further promote the democratization of international relations and make new contributions to the cause of world peace and development and the progress of human civilization.
Since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, international exchanges have been affected, but China's diplomacy with Africa has not diminished. What is your comment on this?
China is the largest developing country, and Africa is the continent with the highest concentration of developing countries. China and Africa have always been a community of common destiny and a community of interests for win-win cooperation. China attaches great importance to Africa's important position in the overall diplomatic situation and regards the development of solidarity and cooperation with African countries as an important cornerstone of China's foreign policy, which is China's long-term and firm strategic choice.
At present, the new crown pneumonia epidemic and the century-old changes are intertwined, and the more complex and difficult the situation, the more we attach importance to Africa, the investment is not reduced, the momentum of cooperation is not reduced, and it is unique in international cooperation with Africa. The first reason for this is that China and Africa are sincerely friendly. In the 65 years since China and Africa opened diplomatic relations, the friendship between China and Africa has been tested by vicissitudes and has lasted for a long time. Second, China and Africa have a tradition of solidarity and mutual assistance. China and Africa, no matter when, no matter what difficulties and obstacles, will sincerely help each other to relieve difficulties. At the beginning of the epidemic in China, African countries did their best to help us, and all Chinese people were deeply moved. At a time when Africa is facing the impact of the epidemic and urgently needs help, we resolutely stand with our African brothers to support Africa's victory over the epidemic and achieve economic recovery. Third, China and Africa have the need to seek common development. Both China and Africa are developing countries and are facing the common task of developing their economies and improving people's livelihood. For a long time, China has provided support to Africa within its capabilities and implemented infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing and other projects, which have been universally praised. Africa has also played an important role in ensuring the security of China's industrial chain supply chain. In the next step, China and Africa will pay close attention to implementing the outcomes of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, so that the people of both sides can enjoy the benefits of China-Africa cooperation as soon as possible. Fourth, China and Africa are allies in safeguarding international fairness and justice. China firmly supports the efforts of African countries to oppose foreign interference and independently explore a development path in line with national conditions, and Africa has given china valuable support in terms of taiwan, human rights and international organization elections. At present, unilateralism, protectionism and bullying are prominent, and China and Africa need to strengthen solidarity and cooperation to safeguard the overall interests of developing countries. The two sides agreed to strengthen coordination and cooperation in multilateral forums such as the United Nations, practice genuine multilateralism, jointly address major challenges such as climate change, terrorism and WTO reform, and promote the development of the international order and global governance system in a more just and rational direction.
All in all, China-Africa cooperation has great potential, and the pace of progress cannot and will not stop because of the epidemic. We will continue to overcome the difficulties and inconveniences caused by the epidemic, unite and cooperate, and continue to create new glory in the journey of building a community with a shared future between China and Africa in the new era.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Zhao Hanlu Text Editor: Song Yanlin Caption Source: Xinhua News Agency Photo Editor: Zhu Xuan
Source: Author: Xinhua News Agency
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