MP castigates West over China

CHINA is not the problem but the West is because they don't want to see Africa develop, Chilubi Member of Parliament Rosaria Fundanga has said. Ms Fundanga said, "abapushi tabatemwana" a Bemba term meaning beggars do not like each other. She said Africa just like the West were seeking Chinese investments and wondered why it was an issue for the West when China decided to invest in Africa. Ms Fundanga said this in Parliament when debating President Edgar Lungu's address to Parliament. "Now that China has started helping us Africans, China is suddenly bad, it is not China they hate, but Africa," she said. She said it was funny that in Western countries there were China towns and infrastructure such as bridges had been built by the Chinese but yet it was not a hot issue. Ms Fundanga, however, said it was high time Zambia stopped depending on donor funding. "Let's not forget that they are the ones who determine our copper prices in London, but they want to question the presence of Chinese who are coming to add value to our development. “I personally think I am proud of what has happened in the last 15 years in terms of development than what happened before the Chinese came in," she noted. And Ms Fundanga said the issue of the allegedly missing Social Cash Transfer funds was becoming irritating. There was no need to blow the issue out of proportion as the funds were just misapplied, she said. She also emphasised the need for Zambia to embrace globalisation, saying big economies such as China had made it because they had embraced globalisation.