China News Service, Wuzhen, September 26. On September 26, the "2021 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit-Global Anti-epidemic and International Communication Forum" hosted by China News Agency was held in Wuzhen, Zhejiang.
In his speech, Wu Peng, Director of the Department of African Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that in order to tell the story of China well, we must do well in China's affairs, especially in Africa.
In Africa, more than half of the wireless websites and broadband networks are constructed by China, and the length of our optical fiber laying in Africa is 200,000 kilometers.
"We do our own affairs well. This thing is not something you can attack or discredit just because you can smear it."
On the afternoon of September 26, the "2021 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit-Global Anti-epidemic and International Communication Forum" hosted by China News Agency was held in Wuzhen, Zhejiang. Wu Peng, Director of the Department of African Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, attended the forum and delivered a speech.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Han Haidan
The following is an excerpt from the speech:
When I talk about Africa here, some of my friends may not know well, and may not be interested, but I want to say that under this great change unseen in a century, who can expect that Africa in a few decades will not become China’s opening to the outside world. Is it a more important partner?
Isn’t it more important for China than for Europe?
uncertain.
We all know that the traditional Sino-African friendship was born in our support for the African national liberation struggle, but in today's China, a new chapter has been written between China and Africa, and we are firmly supporting it in international affairs.
My colleagues and I have also been working hard to explore how to tell Chinese stories well in Africa and improve the effectiveness of our international communication. I also want to share with you.
First of all, I think that in order to tell the story of China well, we must do well in China, especially in Africa.
Our theme today is "anti-epidemic". Since last year, we have achieved full coverage of all countries in Africa in the process of donating anti-epidemic materials.
In fact, in February this year, we have carried out vaccine assistance to African countries (of course, there are other directions) in a humanitarian spirit.
However, internationally, especially some media, always questioned the original intention of China's donation, and even called it "vaccine diplomacy."
A reporter from an internationally renowned news agency once interviewed me. He said that you are in Africa. Why didn't you help all but this and that?
What kind of considerations and factors did you make for this?
Of course he asked very politely.
I said that actually, as the director of the Africa Department, in my daily work, indeed, I only consider who put forward the demand for vaccines, whether there is a country that gives us access to vaccines in China, and whether I can find it by my work. With such resources, I said that I did not consider other geopolitical factors.
Of course, he will not report my answer like this because it is not his correct answer.
In China's African affairs, there are now some comments of this kind.
For example, the debt trap, such as "doing business with China suffers the theory", even former US President Trump said that China's "win win" is that China wins twice, and this kind of narrative does have a certain market in Africa.
I don’t think you need to mind too much, because what we do in Africa is something that we can see and touch. It’s not because I talked about it, but because the American expert on African issues interviewed me. speak.
He said that I can make a long list of things that China is doing in Africa every day, and I can't finish it.
Well, some other countries always stay in a long list of promises and slogans. I think we have an advantage in this.
For example, at today's Internet conference, in Africa, more than half of the wireless websites and broadband networks are constructed by China, and the length of our optical fiber laying in Africa is 200,000 kilometers.
I think we do our own affairs well. This thing is not what you say you can attack or smear.
Some countries say that we have money, we have technology, and Chinese companies do it by improper means. This is not the case.
As I just said, the Internet site is laid out by Chinese technicians and African friends who are going to drill the valley together, one kilometer or one kilometer.
For example, our infrastructure and our bridges. In Africa, we don’t mean that we are forcing someone or holding a gun against someone’s head to say that we are going to give this project to us, but relying on our excellent technology. Inevitability.
For example, in some veteran developed countries, maybe 30 or 50 years, it hasn't built a bridge by itself. Where can its designers, engineers, and skilled workers look for them?
I have been in Africa to see some other projects in our neighboring countries, such as Japan, which is very serious and dedicated, but the people who work there are older people over 60 years old, and young people don’t go out anymore, so it’s How can experienced engineers like ours in China bring Africans to do it quickly and well?
I went to Zhoushan yesterday. The island chain of Zhoushan archipelago is connected by various bridges, so we do our own affairs well, and at the same time, we can't let others slander.
Therefore, we must also tell the Chinese story well.
In this Internet age, very shallow and fast concepts are often flashed by and are constantly being repeated. Therefore, some wrong concepts are burned in the minds of others, so we have to counterattack with deeper and more practical things.
For example, coal power in Africa. The West always attacks us to develop coal power in Africa. In fact, how many coal power is there?
Unable to speak.
We can tell him that there are only two coal power projects in Zimbabwe and South Africa, and they were before 2019. After 2020, China has not participated in any coal power projects in Africa.
I often encourage Chinese companies in Africa to stand up and talk about China. It is not easy. There are cultural reasons and language difficulties.
In fact, one of our biggest difficulties in international communication is language.
Because now is the age of social media, if China cannot tell stories in their language, you will have fewer audiences.
Of course, once I was with an American scholar who was engaged in African issues. He interviewed me in English for an hour. I told him that I was very tired. You were still complaining about Chinese officials not accepting interviews. This is unfair. At least one cultural injustice.
I said, I hope that more Western scholars and journalists can speak Chinese in the future.
Of course, it’s useless to complain. We can only tell the story of China through everyone’s efforts and tell the truth about it on social media. It’s not that China is so beautiful in Africa. We have our shortcomings. , We also admit, but this is a trouble in the growth.
Finally, I feel that to tell the Chinese story well, we must also tell the African story well.
In fact, there are also relatively big misunderstandings about Africa in our country. For example, China only has to spread money in Africa. It seems that it is only unilateral assistance, not like this.
You can imagine that we have nearly a million Chinese people in Africa, 4,000 large-scale enterprises, if they are not driven by economic interests, how can they work there?
I can’t start talking about this. We are Africa’s largest trading partner for 12 consecutive years.
Therefore, I also feel regretful in these aspects. Sometimes, some Western media narratives have not only affected China, but also our Chinese people's views on Africa.
Recently, we have often talked about the issue of virus traceability. Some Chinese compatriots also think that AIDS comes from Africa. In fact, as far as I know, AIDS was first discovered among gay people in an international metropolis in North America in the 1980s. I didn't know what was going on, so I planted it on a monkey in the African jungle.
Therefore, this sinister intention has indeed caused a great misunderstanding of China's understanding of Africa, which is why we are firmly opposed to politicization and stigmatization on the issue of the traceability of the new crown virus today.
Time is limited, I can't talk about it, and I hope that friends from all walks of life here will pay more attention to Africa and support China-Africa cooperation more!
thank you all!