China takes action to increase influence in African media

Chinese Communist Party officials held a virtual “China-Africa Media Cooperation” forum from Beijing on Thursday, Global Times He noted that delegates from both sides agreed to create “an environment for the consistent development of international public opinion” between Beijing and more than 40 African countries and regions.

Huang Kunming, head of the public relations department of the Communist Party of China, chaired the forum on August 25. During the event, Huang gave a short speech in which he “called on the Chinese and African media to play an important role in deepening Sino-African friendship”. and strengthen relationships between people.

“He also expressed hope that the media of the two sides will accelerate practical cooperation and actively create an environment of coordinated development and cooperation in the international community,” the message said. said. Global Times.

Huang is a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Global Times.

China’s National Radio and Television Administration hosted the forum on Thursday together with the Beijing Municipal Government and the African Broadcasting Union. More than 240 delegates representing the Chinese Communist Party or Africa attended the event. Global Times It did not specify which African countries and regions sent delegates to the event, only stating that more than 40 such organizations were represented. The newspaper named Senegal’s Ambassador to China İbrahim Sori Silla as a participant in the forum.

in the 5th Forum #China_Africa Media Collaboration on August 25, 2022 #Beijing. This year’s broadcast is hosted by the Government of the People’s Republic of China, the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), and BTW from the African Broadcasting Association. pic.twitter.com/KQxgINZPsI

— African Broadcasting Union — UAR (@UnionUar) August 25, 2022

Senegal is among dozens of African countries participating in the Beijing Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The Chinese Central Government funds infrastructure development projects in poor or impoverished countries through the program. The Chinese Communist Party often bases such deals on dubious credit structures that tend to loan financially weak states to Beijing. Observers have criticized BRI loans not only for their fraudulent economic structure, but also for putting member states in a precarious position where their governments are subject to political exploitation. Beijing often uses BRI projects as platforms to advertise the political agendas of the anti-Western Chinese Communist Party.

This was confirmed on November 28, 2021, when China’s official state news agency Xinhua reported that Senegalese President Mackie Sall said at the OBOR meeting in Beijing with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi: “The unjust international order must be changed, and Africa’s ‘unjust international order must be changed. His future should be in his hands.

According to a report by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), as of March 2021, the BRI has 39 member states from sub-Saharan Africa. The US think tank noted that the program’s 139 participants, including China, “make up 40 percent of global GDP.” Sixty-three percent of the world’s population lives within the borders of BRI countries.”

The Zimbabwe Media Alliance, a BRI member state, accused the Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe of making a “threat” to a local newspaper. Standard After the Voice of America (VOA) published articles about alleged “abuse by Chinese mining companies” in July. Standard China plans to take “strong countermeasures” against the Standard and a US NGO called Information for Development (IDT), published by the Chinese Embassy in Harare on July 11, with Beijing’s alleged support of what it calls fabrication and “anti-Chinese news”. reference was made to a statement. ” .

Standard There have been reports of alleged “breaches” by Chinese-owned and operated mining companies in Zimbabwe, which has dozens of mining sites set up across Africa by Beijing-based BRI. Africans typically accuse Chinese citizens who engage in such mining activities of violating workers’ rights or of serious physical abuse. Some of the accusers in Africa are legal miners, while others are illegal miners.

The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) accused Chinese citizens of creating unsafe working conditions for their African workers in a June 30 report. Two years ago, in June 2020, a Chinese gold mine manager in central Zimbabwe allegedly shot and injured two former workers. After African workers claim their wages back. A court in Rwanda, another BRI member, sentenced in April Chinese national Sun Shujun to 20 years in prison after he was found guilty of torturing two African miners in a Chinese mine in August 2021.