Two wire-service stories from the past day:
From AFP...
Foreign ministers of China and Africa launched their first annual talks [on] Wednesday, as Beijing continues to expand its footprint in the vast and resource-rich continent.
"China and Africa are good friends, close partners, and dear brothers," Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said as he shook hands and welcomed a long line of his African counterparts to the meeting at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Beijing, he said, would fulfill its pledge to write off debts, offer tax exemptions, and step up development to the largely underdeveloped continent, as part of efforts to boost political, investment, and trade links.
"Steps on debt cancellation and tariff exemption will soon be completed," he said, pointing out that Chinese-African cooperation was based on "equality and mutual respect."
Yang also said that "breakthroughs" had been made in cooperation in finance, technology, and civil aviation, noting that China-Africa trade hit 39.3 billion during the January-June period in 2007, chalking up a nearly 30-percent year-on-year jump.
China, which often comes under fire from Western nations for its human-rights record, refrains from criticizing rights abuses in Africa, whose bountiful natural resources fuel the Asian giant's rapid economic growth.
Some Western critics have particularly accused Beijing of worsening repression through support of countries such as Sudan and Zimbabwe in what they see as a cynical drive to increase access to African oil and other resources.
But Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, speaking on behalf of the African nations, said [that] the Chinese-African relationship was based on a framework of mutual respect "away from sanctions, conditionality, and selectivity concepts."
The United States and key European nations punish countries with poor human-rights records by imposing sanctions and relatively rigid conditions for aid.
Abul Gheit rejected any notion [that] the forum was blind to the crises in Sudan or Somalia, or even the Palestinian issue or the Iraq turmoil, noting "consensus" on many regional and international issues, including the need to reform the United Nations.
"I don't doubt [for] a moment that the two sides are keen and interested in continuing this consultation and coordination process on all levels, and within different regional and international forums," he said.
Yang said [that] China treated African nations as "equals."
Beijing also played an active role in maintaining peace in Africa, citing 1,300 Chinese peacekeepers deployed in seven peacekeeping areas in the continent, he said.
The foreign ministers' meeting is the first since a China-Africa leaders' summit was held in Beijing in November 2006 which unveiled a plan of action to strengthen ties in a broad range of areas.
As part of a commitment made by Chinese President Hu Jintao then, Beijing has launched a fund to encourage Chinese firms to invest in Africa.
The China-Africa Development Fund has got one billion dollars from the China Development Bank, with its size seen to reach five billion dollars eventually.
China, which currently is second to the European Union as Africa's biggest trading partner, is also building railways and other basic infrastructure in the continent, and hopes to open up a big market for cheap products.
From the AP...
Against the backdrop of a nearly 30-percent increase in trade between China and Africa this year, the Chinese foreign minister thanked a group of African countries for their support in defeating Taiwan's bid to join the United Nations.
Yang Jiechi underlined the «stronger mutual support» [that] China and Africa have shown one another since a summit aimed at increasing cooperation between the two last year.
«The attempt of the Taiwan authorities to join the U.N. was once again foiled,» Yang Jiechi said [on] Wednesday at a meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. «This would not have been possible without our African friends' staunch support to China.[»]
The General Assembly decided to keep Taiwan's bid to join the world body off its agenda on Friday, for the 15th straight year.
China claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory, and resists any move that appears to give the self-governing, democratic island the trappings of sovereignty. In 1971, the Beijing government took over China's U.N. seat from Taiwan.
Not all African countries supported Beijing's opposition to Taiwan's bid. Many of the island's allies have spoken out against the rejection in speeches to the General Assembly.
Swaziland's King Mswati III said [that] Taiwan's application was rejected without due process. «We continue to support the cause of the over 23 million people of Taiwan who are not represented in the one organization that should be truly global,» he added.
Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, who is co-chair of the forum, said [that] the cooperation between Africa and China represents the «consensus between them on many of the regional and international issues.[»]
Aboul Gheit said [that] China and Africa share «visions and positions on many of the world's problems,» including Darfur.
China, which buys two-thirds of Sudan's oil output and sells weapons to Khartoum, has been accused by some politicians and aid groups of not using its economic leverage to push Sudan's government more strongly for peace in Darfur.
More than 200,000 people have died and some 2.5 million have been displaced since rebels rose up four years ago in the western Sudanese region. Sudan's government is accused of responding to the uprising by unleashing a militia of Arab nomads known as the janjaweed -- a charge [that] it denies.
Yang heralded increased trade between China and the continent, which he said reached US$39.3 billion ([27.8 billion euros]) between January and July [of] this year, nearly 30 percent more than during the same period last year.
China has been promoting itself as a partner for Africa's development, investing in its industry and infrastructure, as it tries to secure oil and other resources for its booming economy. But Beijing faces complaints that it is treating Africa as a colony, and that it supports oppressive regimes, such as Sudan and Zimbabwe.
Yang stressed that China's role in Africa was that of an equal -- a notion that resonates on a continent long under the thumb of Western colonial powers.
«We should increase dialogue and coordination on major international and regional issues [in order] to jointly uphold the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries,» Yang said.
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