Zambia opposition barred from attending Hu ceremonies
03 Feb 2007 11:57:50 GMT Source: Reuters
By Shapi Shacinda LUSAKA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - The Zambian government said on Saturday it had barred the main opposition party from attending ceremonies marking the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao because of its anti-China stance. Chief government spokesman Vernon Mwaanga told reporters from state media that the Patriotic Front was the only opposition party not invited to meetings between Hu and Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa. Zambia has witnessed some of Africa's most public expressions of unease over China's growing power, with a riot at a Chinese-owned mine over pay. The Patriotic Front has accused the government of selling out to Beijing. "We have invited opposition party leaders to attend public functions like the state banquet for the Chinese president," Mwaanga said. "But ... we have not invited any leader of the Patriotic Front because they do not recognise the Chinese people." Hu, who arrived on Saturday, faces a delicate task in copper-rich Zambia because of feelings in the country that China is attempting to colonise the local economy. Zambian officials say Hu's visit will spur trade and foreign investment and make Zambia a hub for China's economic expansion on the world's poorest continent. "WINNING WAYS" Finance minister Ng'andu Magande told Reuters on Saturday that Zambia aimed to strengthen its bilateral ties with China in order to learn from the Asian country how it was managing to grow its economy. "The most important thing for us is that China is the fastest growing economy and we are also growing. These relations will help us to find winning ways because China was an (economic) underdog just a few years ago, but they are now performing well," Magande said. The Chinese leader was greeted with a 21-gun salute after his plane touched down at Lusaka airport and was greeted with songs and dances from cultural groups. Hu and Mwanawasa were due to hold private talks later on Saturday and will then issue a joint communique. The government has said journalists would not be allowed to ask questions during a joint news conference by Hu and Mwanawasa on Sunday after the two leaders sign trade and economic co-operation agreements. The Patriotic Front, which narrowly lost elections last year after running on an openly anti-China platform, criticised Hu's visit. "They are out to colonise Africa economically and also to get Africa's solidarity at the United Nations," Patriotic Front general secretary Guy Scott told Reuters this week. Hu's trip to Zambia dropped a planned stop in the Copperbelt region, apparently out of fears he might be targeted by protesting families of workers who died in a 2005 explosion at a Chinese-owned mine.
