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China - Zambia, A swear-sour friendship by Paolo Woods
Vivien Kalunga was never particularly enthusiastic of the massive presence of Chinese in her country. But she credited them with a certain good will and an undeniable energy that could not harm Zambia, a country where the 11 million inhabitants have a life expectancy of 38 years and half of them are unemployed. At least this was her sentiment till the 13th of July 2004. On that date she gave birth to her second child and to the general surprise he had slanted eyes.
“I should have never gone to work in that Chinese restaurant in Kitwe”, she says today with bitterness. Soon after the birth of Jonathan, the owner of the restaurant, Cheng Yu, disappeared leaving an old Chinese television as only token. The life of Vivien became a nightmare. Her husband refused to allow the child in their house. She became the aim of all the neighbor’s gossip.
Zambia has long been considered the showcase of the Chinese-African friendship but the relationship is turning sour on the ground, especially in the mining town of Chambishi.
Here, at the heart of the Copperbelt, is where the major projects of the Chinese in Zambia are concentrated: a giant copper mine, numerous smelters and a free trade zone. But the people of Chambishi do not seem to appreciate all this Asiatic commitment and the area has become a hotbed of anti-Chinese sentiment, a concentrate of all the difficulties that Beijing is encountering on the Dark Continent.
To tell this story Serge Michel (text) and Fehler! Kontakt nicht definiert. (photo) have traveled the mineral rich lands of a poor African country. From the bottom of the copper mines to benches of a courthouse where for the first time the local laborers, ill-treated and underpaid, bring to court their Asian bosses. Serge and Paolo have met the Zambians on strike that have attached their Chinese employers with stones and the survivors of a terrible explosion due to Chinese negligence in one of the mines. They found out that the local politician, of questionable integrity, are probably the only supporters of the Middle Empire.
The biggest endeavor has been to get access to the Chinese executives, trenched behind a great wall of silence and secrecy. Serge and Paolo managed to penetrate and, before being kicked out, realize that China has yet to win the Zambia battle.
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EXCLUSIVE!
