China's means of engaging with Africa has differed starkly from that of Western countries, said a Zambian scholar, stressing that Chinese engagement comes without preconditions.
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Evans Daka, a lecturer of foreign policy and international relations at the University of Zambia, said that Western countries generally have a long list of governance requirements that need to be met before substantial diplomacy can take place.
"With the Western engagements, (what) many emphasize is that African countries like Zambia need, first of all, to add here, to address rather what we call the concept of good governance, meaning that you need to work on issues to do with human rights, you need to improve the way you conduct elections, issues of transparency and accountability. All these principles of good governance must be addressed before the West will move in and engage with you," he said.
In contrast, he said, China has shown eagerness to engage with African countries regardless of how they govern themselves.
"With Chinese, they perceive that to be an element of intervention in a political system, an element of intervention in the governance of a country that they're trying to engage. Therefore, they do not put much of conditions in the engagement. All they do is actually to employ diplomacy, discuss, and then establish areas of engagement," said the scholar.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Zambia.
Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema arrived in Beijing last week to attend the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
While meeting with Hichilema on Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China is willing to share development opportunities with Zambia, encourage more enterprises to actively participate in cooperation with the Zambian side in various fields including new energy, water resources development and electricity generation, and support African countries including Zambia in their industrialization and modernization processes.
Zambian scholar sheds light on China's novel approach to engagement in Africa
Chinese scientists have set a new record by reaching a drilling depth of 750 meters on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, during the country's second comprehensive scientific expedition to the hinterland of the plateau.
The team led by academician Fang Xiaomin from Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) is currently carrying out a resource and environment research project in the Lunpola Basin, which is the first proven oil-producing basin on the Plateau.
Overcoming a series of difficulties brought by the harsh high-altitude environment, the team managed to reach more than 750 meters below the surface.
With an average altitude of 4,600 meters, the Lunpola Basin has accumulated the most continuous Cenozoic strata of the plateau dating back for 55 million years, which makes it a key region for studying the plateau's tectonic features, climate, biology and ecology as well as their co-evolution.
The rock samples taken from deep down the earth not only record the history of tens of thousands of years of geological and climate changes on the Qinghai- Xizang Plateau, but also reveal the distribution of energy in the stratum.
"This gray-green section with continuous layered patterns is conglomerate. This part of red sedimentary rock represents the arid climatic conditions of the subtropical high-pressure zone. And this part, with many beautiful layers, is carbonate rock, and over here, it may contain some white-jade marble or gypsum. Further down is what, I just mentioned, was produced from the tropical environment. We also successfully drilled it out. The oil shale from that time has now transformed into heavy oil, indicating that the biological climate was very rich and humid, with high plant diversity and significant organic sedimentation. It's the most important oil and gas-bearing layer in the Lunpola Basin, which is the first basin on Qinghai-Xizang Plateau where we have drilled an oil outlet," Fang explained to China Central Television reporter.
The scientist said the ongoing drilling is expected to provide an important scientific basis for the simulation and prediction of the impact of global warming and the ecological environment protection on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, the formation of hydrocarbon source rocks, and the exploration and development of salt lake resources.
"We have designed a drilling depth of 1,500 meters, but we will reach 1,000 meters first. If all goes well, we will drill deeper to 1,500 meters. This mission is the first of its kind globally to drill so deep, more than 1,000 meters, in the core of the hinterland on a plateau," said Fang.
Chinese scientists set new drilling record on Qinghai-Xizang Plateau
