Amidst the worsening economic situation in China and the spread of unemployment, the Communist Party leader announced with great fanfare plans to provide 360 billion yuan in funding to Africa and create 1 million job opportunities. This news has sparked anger among netizens, but online comments in mainland China have been censored. Experts believe that the Communist Party’s massive spending in Africa is likely to become irrecoverable bad debts.
From September 4th to 6th, the China-Africa Cooperation Forum was held in Beijing. During his speech on the 5th, Xi Jinping announced giving 100% tariff exemptions to 33 African countries and encouraged mutual investment between Chinese and African enterprises, aiming to keep value-added industries in Africa and create 1 million job positions there.
Xi Jinping promised to provide Africa with 360 billion yuan over the next 3 years, including credit, aid, and investment support. He also encouraged and supported African countries to issue “panda bonds” in China.
Xi Jinping further pledged 1 billion yuan in emergency food aid, construction of 100,000 acres agricultural demonstration zones, dispatching 500 agricultural experts, as well as offering 1 billion yuan in free military aid to train 6,000 military talents and 1,000 police officers in Africa.
As the Chinese economy continues to decline with high unemployment rates and local governments resorting to extreme measures to resolve debt crises, critics question Xi Jinping’s lavish spending in Africa. Overseas, on social media platforms, netizens have criticized and mocked Xi’s actions.
Noted Chinese commentator Cai Shenkun sarcastically commented, “Xi Jinping is truly breaking his heart for African brothers.” Former Chinese Communist Party official and independent commentator Du Wen stated on social media, “While local Chinese governments are busy liquidating assets, central fiscal revenues continue to decline. However, Chairman Xi continues to spend lavishly, extravagantly, and irresponsibly, which brings to mind the saying from ‘Dream of the Red Chamber.'”
Canadian Chinese writer Sheng Xue expressed to the media that despite the imminent risk of famine in China due to the economic downturn in recent years, the regime continues its extravagant spending abroad, leaving the Chinese people to bear the cost of this generosity.
Former Beijing lawyer and chairman of the Democracy Movement in Canada, Lai Jianping, stated that the Chinese Communist Party is using this opportunity to promote its totalitarian ideology in Africa under the guise of building a “community of shared future for mankind.” Through the dispersal of funds, China aims to exert political and economic control over these weaker nations, exhibiting colonial tendencies.
On the mainland Chinese internet, all negative comments were censored, with several official media accounts displaying messages like “Comments temporarily unavailable.”
Some netizens shared screenshots on overseas social media platforms showing their accounts being suspended after posting about China’s plan to provide 360 billion yuan in funding to Africa.
Taiwanese political commentator Song Guocheng criticized the CCP’s “generous” strategy of prioritizing aid to “poor African countries” over assisting “poor Chinese citizens.” He emphasized that the mounting financial support given to Africa by China, surpassing 60 billion USD since the previous China-Africa Forum Summit, is likely to result in unrecoverable bad debts for these African nations.
Regarding China’s pledge to provide 360 billion yuan in support to Africa, Associate Professor Chen Shimin from the University of Taiwan’s Department of Political Science noted in an interview with Voice of America that despite the seemingly similar loan and aid amounts promised by China in recent years, the country’s current economic weakness with growth rates around 5% raises doubts about its ability to fulfill these commitments.
Chen Shimin previously pointed out that the Chinese Communist Party has been sugarcoating its activities in Africa, portraying them as a “new opportunity” for the continent. However, through initiatives like the Belt and Road, many countries have fallen into a debt trap.
Immediately after Xi Jinping’s “generous” announcement of providing 360 billion yuan in support to Africa over the next 3 years, Julien Paluku, the Minister of Trade of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, expressed hopes that most of China’s funds would be invested in Congo.
Although the China-Africa Cooperation Forum opened on September 5th, President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo arrived in Beijing earlier on September 1st and met Xi Jinping on September 2nd. Congo is known as one of the poorest and most corrupt countries globally, ranking 162 out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index.
Honorary Professor Ding Shufan from the International Affairs School at the National Chengchi University in Taiwan previously remarked that while Western countries demand financial transparency in aid to “global Southern countries,” the Chinese Communist Party claims its economic assistance comes without conditions. However, this approach has only fueled corruption in aid-receiving countries, leading to increased resentment towards China.
(Contributions to this article made by Epoch Times reporter Li Yun)