EGYPT: Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao is in Cairo and says that China wooing Africa and South America in a bid to expand trade and energy cooperation is no threat to U.S. interests

Record ID: 858114

  • Title: EGYPT: Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao is in Cairo and says that China wooing Africa and South America in a bid to expand trade and energy cooperation is no threat to U.S. interests
  • Date: 19th June 2006
  • Summary: (BN10) CAIRO, EGYPT (JUNE 18, 2006) (REUTERS) WIDE VIEW OF CAIRO, THE NILE RIVER RUNNING THROUGH THE CITY EGYPTIAN AND CHINESE FLAGS WITH NILE RIVER IN THE DISTANCE
  • Embargoed: 4th July 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Egypt
  • City:
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVABZZC1AUCGNB0QGGNSCRXC0N6R
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on Sunday (June 18) during a visit where the two nations have signed a number of mutual trade and economic cooperation agreements.
    Wen is on an African tour which concentrates on energy supplies and economic relations. His tour also includes Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Angola which is China's second largest oil supplier.
    China is a growing exporter to Egypt, with Chinese vehicles now starting to appear in the market, but the volume of trade with China is still much smaller than trade with the United States and the big European economies.
    Thirsty for oil and raw materials, China has poured billions into African countries blessed with mineral wealth, building on a legacy of goodwill from its support of independence movements in the 1960s and 70s.
    Speaking at a news conference later, Wen said that China's wooing of African and Latin American countries in a bid to expand trade and energy cooperation posed no threat to U.S. interests.
    Wen said China's foreign policy was based on mutual benefit, adding that his country would not interfere in internal matters such as human rights
    "This attempt and efforts to develop relations are not directed at entering into any alliance, and will not compromise the interests of any other countries. I am confident that the U.S. government also recognises this," said Wen who was speaking through an English interpreter.
    Wen is the third high-ranking Chinese official to visit Africa in six months, and analysts say this underlines Africa's strategic importance to China's efforts to supply its booming economy with energy and materials.
    Western commentators and rights groups worry that China may obtain African resources with little regard for the environment or the human rights records of leaders it deals with.
    Wen also said Iran had both rights and responsibilities in the ongoing nuclear standoff but that the issue needed to be resolved through diplomatic means.
    "We believe that the Iranian nuclear issue needs to be resolved through diplomatic channels. And we also believe that now the six countries involved have already put on the table quite a good proposal of a peaceful solution to the Iranian nuclear issue, and this proposal has certainly laid a foundation for peaceful talks. And the parties needs to seize the opportunity and display even greater flexibility to resume the peace talks at an early date," he said.
    Iran has been referred to the U.N. Security Council, where it could face sanctions, after failing to convince the international community that its atomic scientists are only looking to build power stations and not weapons.
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