China pledges more support for impoverished Malawi
2009-01-18

Nations China Taiwan Malawi Uganda South Africa Category Regions Regions Asia Pacific Rim Africa People Yang Jiechi Source (AFP)

LILONGWE (AFP) - China has pledged more support for its new African ally Malawi, which last year switched its diplomatic allegiance from Taipei to Beijing.

China's foreign minister Yang Jiechi told journalists late Thursday that cooperation would increase between the two states, and appealed to other developed countries not to abandon Africa due to global credit woes.

"China, like everyone else, has been affected by the credit crunch but we will not reduce support to Malawi and Africa because of that," Yang told journalists at the end of his one-day visit to the impoverished state.

"We have agreed to increase our co-operation in political, trade and economic areas," he added, after signing two agreements, including a concessionary loan of 90 million dollars (68 million euros) to construct a five-star hotel and conference centre.

Malawi, which depends on mostly Western donors to bankroll most of its development programmes, last year switched its diplomatic allegiance from Taipei to Beijing.

The move angered Taiwan and led to the termination of various cooperation agreements with Malawi, an ally for 42 years.

Yang's Malawian counterpart Joyce Banda told AFP that ties with China would benefit the impoverished southern African state more than Taiwan.

"There is a big difference between China and Taiwan. The Chinese look at a bigger picture of development, while Taiwan believed in giving you bits and pieces of aid," she told AFP.

Yang's visit was the first by a senior Chinese official since Malawi dropped ties with Taiwan. The Malawi visit is part of Yang's African tour, also taking him to Uganda, Rwanda, and South Africa on Friday.

China has built close partnerships with African nations in recent years, partly to secure resources such as oil, minerals and timber to help fuel its economic growth.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war and have since vied for international recognition as the rightful government, with Beijing regarding the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification.

China regards Taiwan as a renegade province that will eventually be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.