By Amin Kef Sesay
The Chinese Ambassador to Sierra Leone, H.E. Hu Zhangliang, through a virtual meeting held on the 10th March 2022 introduced to the students of the Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM) of the University of Sierra Leone what China is.
The virtual meeting was attended by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Sierra Leone Prof. Foday Sahr, Deputy Vice Chancellor of IPAM Prof. Samuel Nonie, Assistant Deputy Vice Chancellor Prof. Miriam Conteh-Morgan, other senior faculty staff of IPAM, about 200 students of IPAM, representatives of Sierra Leone-China friendship organizations and media friends.
Displaying facts and using an empirical approach, Ambassador Hu elaborated that, “China is a country with a long history and a splendid culture, China is a resilient and tenacious country, China is a self-dependent and peace-loving country, China is a country that constantly strives to be strong and innovative, and China is a country that always maintains a global vision and offers a helping hand”.
Ambassador Hu pointed out that China is a country with over 5,000 years of civilization. China’s culture contains profound core values such as the philosophy of harmony and tolerance, the spirit of being vigorous, competent and self-reliant, the emphasis on “being kind to the neighbors and friendly to all nations”, the spirit of seeking truth from facts and advancing with the times, and the concept of “man and nature are of one and man should live a frugal life”.
Ambassador Hu said that in ancient times China had been in a leading position of development in the world for a long time. However, since the modern times China declined into a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society and the Chinese nation has suffered unprecedented hardships because of Western imperialist invasions and the corruption and inability of the feudal regimes at that time. In 1921, the Communist Party of China (CPC) was founded and began to lead the Chinese people to engage in tenacious struggles for national independence, people’s liberation and development of the country.
Under the strong leadership of the CPC, the Chinese people have achieved the first centenary goal in 2021 and succeeded in building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects. China is now marching towards the second centenary goal under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a new era with great vigour.
Ambassador Hu stressed that China practices an independent foreign policy of peace. China is a firm defender of international fairness and justice. China stands with the majority of countries in the world in opposing unilateralism, power politics and hegemony. China has never provoked a war or a conflict with others. Today, China is the second largest contributor to the UN regular budget and the UN peacekeeping budget.
Ambassador Hu averred that China has made brilliant achievements in science and technology throughout history. Reform and opening up has been the most prominent feature and the most magnificent phenomenon in contemporary China. As a result, China’s GDP has grown from US$ 150billion in 1978 to US$17.7 trillion in 2021, and its share of the world’s total has been increased from 1.8% to about 18% in the same period.
Ambassador Hu said that China has been actively fulfilling its due international obligations, providing global public goods and helping other developing countries in their development. During the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), H.E. President Xi Jinping put forward four proposals for building a China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era and announced nine programs to strengthen China-Africa cooperation.
Ambassador Hu said that China and Sierra Leone are reliable friends enjoying mutual respect, mutual trust, mutual support and mutual benefit. China will, as always, strengthen its friendly cooperation with the Sierra Leone for common development and prosperity.
Prof. Edmond Nonie spoke highly of Sierra Leone-China cordial relations. He remarked that the University of Sierra Leone has a number of good ties with China, citing example of the privileges offered by the Confucius Institute to Sierra Leonean students for enhancing development. He believed that the engagements between Sierra Leone and China are in the interests of the two peoples.
President of IPAM Student Union Government, Anthony Sannoh, on behalf of IPAM and USL, expressed gratitude to Ambassador Hu for the lecturing which widened their horizons on China’s splendid culture and significant achievements. He added that no matter how the international situation has changed, China and Sierra Leone had always maintained good partners. He believed that the friendship between the two countries will be long lasting.
