´China has been an all-weather friend´- EDGAR LUNGU
Staff Reporter-10.04.24
Dr Edgar Chagwa Lungu, the sixth President of Zambia has described the diplomatic relationship the country shared with China as ´warm´ adding that Asian giant is an ´all weather friend´.
The former President was speaking when he shared a geopolitical moment with Zambian author of a new book on China and international relations analyst Ambassador Anthony Mukwita at his residence in Lusaka on Wednesday.
“Our relationship with China as I recall it when I was President of Zambia was nothing but stellar and warm,” President Lungu said, “it is a relationship that needs nurturing, as you can see from the infrastructure coordination boost, we achieved, which today speaks for itself.”
The book entitled ´China in Africa the Zambia story´ outlines how, because of the good relationship President Lungu enjoyed with President Xi Jinping, infrastructure development sprouted since independence.
Examples of infrastructure development corporation between Zambia and China in the book, abound ranging from the $65 million Kenneth Kaunda ultra-modern conference centre that can host 54 heads of states, international airports, and power generation plants.
The power plants under Lungu notably include the 750 Kafue Gorge Lower Hydro Power plant at a cost of about $2billion.
Geopolitical analysts, however, feel the relationship between China and Zambia has waned to a low since President Lungu left office after the 2021 poll that ushered in the administration of President Hakainde Hichilema, seen by many as more ´western centric´ that east looking.
The book has a section discussing the role President Lungu played in enhancing further, the relationship between China and Zambia that clocks 60 years this year, including the relationship Zambia now has with China under President Hichilema.
It is available on Amazon and Takealot for international literature buffs, Bookworld and Grey Matter for Zambian readers, the second book by Mukwita, the first having been a bio take on President Lungu.
The book takes also takes a critical look at Zambia´s infrastructure debt to Zambia and President Hichilema´s late visit to Beijing that only occurred ten months after he assumed office compared to numerous trips, he had made to western capitals such as Washington DC, London, and Paris.
Book analysts have described as a ´breath of fresh air´ into the relationship Zambia has with the United States that often cris crosses with China.
Ambassador Mukwita described his meeting with the sixth President, “as humbling and educative.”
Dr. Lungu said it’s important for Zambia to uphold good diplomatic relations with as many countries as possible because the global village is forever shrinking.
Picture: Ambassador Anthony Mukwita flips book pages at the Lungu residence on Wednesday.
This is the one who did of biography of ECL when he was just weeks in office as president and got rewarded with a diplomatic job.