Despite providing billions of dollars in aid to Africa, China is facing image issues there due to "bad habits" of its traders and firms indulging in corruption and illegal activities like ivory smuggling, a senior Chinese diplomat has said.
"Our people just cannot shake their bad habits. When they come to Africa, they are not united and engage in infighting like usual," Chinese envoy to Tanzania Lu Youqing said on the competition among Chinese companies operating there over contracts and bribes offered to officials to lobby on their behalf.
"[Some Chinese here] knowingly engage in illegal activities. Of course, they're only a minority," South China Morning Post today quoted Lu from an interview published earlier in Southern Metropolis News.
The diplomat said he received complaints from local officials and police about some Chinese nationals who hid ivory inside the bonnets of cars and even inside the undergarments of female air passengers.
Lu also flagged his concerns about the quality of some infrastructure projects in nearby African countries that were built by Chinese contractors at questionably low prices.
"When I became ambassador in 2012, each kilometre of road cost about half a million US dollars. This has increased over the past few years due to our regulatory efforts," Lu said.
"However, some Chinese companies that had been banned by Tanzania were building roads in neighbouring countries at a cost of USD 300,000 to USD 400,000 per kilometre.
"What will happen to these roads in three to five years' time?" he wondered.
"Tanzania hosts ambassadors from about 70 countries, but none of them needs to constantly worry like us about consular protection issues," Lu said responding to a question on alleged police harassment and robberies targeting Chinese in Africa.
His comments come amid increasing attacks against Chinese in Africa despite claims of being a major donor, building several infrastructure projects and doling out a lot of aid, highlights challenges faced by Beijing on the ground.
According to recent official report China allocated 89.34 billion yuan (USD 14.41 billion) foreign assistance from 2010 to 2012, in the forms of grant, interest-free loan and concessional loans, a substantial part of it was spent in Africa where China looks to gain influence.
