Reliable friends and faithful partners
The Tanzania-Zambia Railway highlights the centrality of Tanzania in the development of ties between China and Africa
Fifty-five years since Tanzania established diplomatic relations with China on April 26, 1964, which is also Tanzania's foundation day, the two countries have built strong and unshakable ties and are moving forward hand in hand.
Looking back, there are so many high points in the history of development of Sino-Tanzanian ties, but among the most notable are the establishment of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway and Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit in 2013.
TAZARA, the 1860.5-kilometer railway connecting Dar es Salaam in Tanzania with Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia, is an important transport line connecting countries in the east and south of Africa.
The decision that China would help Tanzania build a railway was taken by late Chinese leaders, Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, 50 years ago. Over 50,000 Chinese people relocated to Tanzania and Zambia and worked hard with the locals to build the railway, which was completed in 1975. It has since been hailed as a railway of friendship, freedom and life.
TAZARA provided critical support for the anti-imperialist struggles and national liberation movements in southern Africa. It now helps promote economic and social development along the railway's route.
TAZARA is indicative of China's Africa policy. It is symbolic of how China has helped friends striving for freedom and justice in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Apart from bringing hope to local people, China has also won international prestige and praise through the railway.
In 2013, when Xi made his first state visit as president to Tanzania he made an important speech at the China-aided Julius Nyerere International Convention Center in Dar es Salaam on "Remaining Reliable Friends and Faithful Partners Forever". He said history had shown that China and Africa have always been a community with a shared future.
To enhance China-Africa relations, President Xi proposed the concept of sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith. These, together with upholding justice while pursuing shared interests, were identified as the general principles to strengthen solidarity and cooperation with other developing countries at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. This indicates the centrality of China-Tanzania relations when shaping a model for the development of ties between China and Africa and South-South cooperation.
China's policy of developing relations with Tanzania and Africa over the past half a century has been according to these general principles. China always stands with developing countries and strives for mutual benefits and international justice.
Concerted efforts by China and Tanzania have seen the implementation of many projects, TAZARA being the largest China-aided project in the world. The Nyerere Bridge is the first cable stayed cross-sea bridge in East Africa. The library at the University of Dar es Salaam is the largest and stocked with the best resources in Africa. The National Fiber Optic Broadband Backbone Project is writing a new chapter in Tanzania's history. The Ubungo flyover under construction in Dar es Salaam will also be the first in the country.
China has been Tanzania's largest trading partner for three consecutive years and is the largest foreign investor in Tanzania. Such cooperation has brought tangible benefits to both countries.
People-to-people cooperation is also being strengthened. Exchanges and cooperation are taking place at the cultural, educational, healthcare, nongovernment organization and think tank level. Also, nearly 2,000 government scholarships and over 6,000 training opportunities in China have been offered to Tanzanians. Tourism is a new area of cooperation between the two countries while more and more people in China are willing to learn Swahili and more in Tanzania are learning Chinese, promoting friendship between the two countries.
History can inject strong impetus into relations and help advance farther. Upholding the TAZARA spirit and the general principle of sincerity, achieving real results, affinity and good faith, and upholding justice while pursuing shared interests will help strengthen China-Tanzania ties in the future.
We will enhance bilateral ties, maintain close, high-level exchanges, strengthen dialogue on policy and strategic synergy, firmly safeguard each other's core interests, namely sovereignty, security and development, deepen communication and mutual learning on governance and development experience, and consolidate the political foundation of China-Tanzania relations.
We will seize the important opportunity of the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and implement its outcomes, combine the Belt and Road Initiative with the strategy of supporting Tanzania's national development, and expand converging interests and highlights of cooperation.
(The author is China's ambassador to Tanzania. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily.)
