FOCAC sets example for South-South cooperation: Chinese FM

DAKAR — Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here on Monday that the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) has set an example for South-South cooperation.

Wang made the remarks when meeting with Tunisian Minister of Foreign Affairs Othman Jerandi on the sidelines of the 8th Ministerial Conference of the FOCAC.

The Chinese side appreciates the active efforts made by various African parties, including Tunisia, for this meeting, and values the aspirations and ideas for cooperation from Africa, said Wang, adding that it is believed that with joint efforts of both sides, the forum will chart a magnificent blueprint for China-Africa cooperation over the next three years and inject new and strong impetus into the China-Africa friendship.

The fact that the current COVID-19 vaccination rate in Africa is far lower than that in other regions is neither reasonable nor acceptable, Wang said, noting that China will firmly fulfill its commitment to making vaccines a global public product, pool together resources to offer more vaccines to Africa, and unite and cooperate with Africa to overcome difficulties together and jointly beat the pandemic.

Wang also said that democracy is a common value of humanity and a legitimate right of all countries, adding that whether a country is democratic or not should be decided by its own people, and should not be judged by a few foreign countries.

To draw lines based on ideology and create new divisions in the name of democracy spells disaster for the world and is never a blessing, he added.

For his part, Jerandi sincerely appreciated China for lending a hand during the pandemic to help developing countries including Tunisia overcome difficulties, saying that the pandemic shows that creating divisions, damaging multilateralism and acting wilfully will only bring disasters to the human race.

The Tunisian side highly appreciates the Chinese side for listening carefully to Africa’s needs, guiding the forum so that it can take into account Africa’s integrity and regional as well as national differences, and playing an important role in promoting Africa’s development and prosperity, he said.

He also said that Tunisia will make full use of the forum to promote Africa-China cooperation, help Africa realize independence and self-improvement, and draw more world attention to development issues.