China, Africa to convene summit on viral fight
▶ A channel to strengthen cooperation despite US’ attempts to sow discord
The China-Africa summit on solidarity against the COVID-19 pandemic will be held in Beijing via video link on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday.
The conference will serve as a channel to strengthen international cooperation and aid to African countries, as they are still facing a great threat from the virus, and cement ChinaAfrican ties amid US attempts to sow discord, analysts said.
President Xi Jinping will preside over the summit and deliver a keynote speech, foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced Tuesday. The summit was jointly proposed by China, South Africa – the rotating chair of the African
Union (AU) – and Senegal, co-chair country of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FCAC).
The summit will be attended by leaders of African countries, including members of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government and rotating chairs of major African subregional organizations; and the chairperson of the AU Commission will attend the summit upon invitation.
“The summit could center on several major topics including aid to Africa in fighting against COVID-19. China has aided African countries over the past months and carried on doing this to share its international responsibility,” said Li Wentao, deputy director of the African Center with the China
Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.
The international community had been concerned that Africa’s vulnerable and undeveloped medical systems may be overwhelmed by the spread of COVID-19. However, the continent has so far remained stable with death tolls and infection rates that are not too high, experts said.
Sight lapses would result in a wider spread of COVID-19 in Africa, considering the current lack of large-scale nucleic acid testing and the large numbers of people living in poverty, Li warned.
China started in March offering supplies, including test kits and medical protective gear to African countries and the AU to help fight against the pandemic. Medical teams have been deployed to many African countries.
Ambassador Rahamtalla Mohamed Osman, the Permanent Representative of the AU to China, told the Global Times that he would like to express his thanks and appreciation for all the help extended by China to Africa in order to contain this coronavirus.
“China-Africa cooperation in fighting the coronavirus is definitely remarkable. We are very closely coordinating and this is not only limited to the level of providing medicines and equipment,” he said.
China-Africa ties have experienced twist and turns over the past weeks due to the alleged “discrimination” against Africans in South China’s
Guangdong Province, antiChina sentiment in some African countries and the murder of three Chinese nationals in Zambia, but the governments from the two sides have a consensus that the China-African friendship will not be shaken.
Experts noted that the US is behind the hyping of the sudden bump in China-Africa ties, and is trying hard to sow discord between China and African countries.
“Because of the strain in China-US ties, it is now putting more pressure on African countries to pick a side. We believe African countries know better than to choose unilateralism and hegemony. The China-Africa friendship will not change no matter how hard the US tries to smear it,” Li said.