The Government of the People’s Republic of China(PRC), on Friday said that it would need more commitment and mutual trust from Nigeria, to be able strengthen its win-win cooperation with Nigeria.
Amb. Dai Bing, Deputy Director General at China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of African Affairs, said that his government had heard that there was currently a Taiwanese Official Office in Nigeria.
Dai told a delegation of visiting Nigerian Journalists in Beijing, China that with the long existing relations between China and Nigeria, the Chinese Government would want Nigeria to believe in the One China policy.
“China is a responsible country. We do not want our cooperation with any country to fail. China has always seen Nigeria as a major partner in Africa. We, therefore, wish to get Nigeria’s support in the unification of China.
“We want Nigeria to know that China is still not unified. We still have our issues with Taiwan. We really want to have one China. We have heard that there is currently a Taiwanese Office in Nigeria.
“There should be a politically mutual trust between Nigeria and China. We believe that mutual trust should be very important in China/Nigeria relations,’’ he said.
The deputy director general said that China and Nigeria’s relations had so far witnessed good progress, as well as some shortcomings that both countries urgently needed to address.
Dai said that the Chinese government was committed to the realisation of the agreements reached at the Forum on China and African Cooperation(FOCAC) in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Chinese Envoy said that his government would want African countries to begin to initiate projects for themselves, agree on such projects and execute such projects themselves.
“We want Africans to know that Africa is Africans’ Africa, and that China is only part of the international cooperation with African countries.
“We are, however, very prepared to support other international partners for the development of Africa. We want Africans to initiate their projects and have these projects executed by Africans.
“We want African countries to know that we cannot be responsible for their overall development. We can only be responsible for some specific projects on social and economic efficiency,’’ he added. (NAN)
