Chinese Ambassador Publishes Op-Ed on Zambia’s Role in China-Africa Cooperation, Not a Competition Arena

On April 3, 2023, Du Xiaohui (杜曉暉), China’s ambassador to Zambia, published a signed op-ed titled “Zambia Should Be a Stage for All Countries’ Cooperation in Africa, Not a Competition Arena” (贊比亞應是各國對非合作大舞台，而非競技場) in three Zambian outlets: the Zambia Daily Mail, the Daily Nation, and The Mast. The article was timed to coincide with the completion of the Lower Kafue Gorge 750-megawatt hydropower station and used it as the centerpiece for a broader argument about the character of China’s engagement with Zambia. Du framed the project as evidence of China’s adherence to the principles of “mutual benefit and win-win” (互利共赢) and “open and inclusive” (開放包容) cooperation, invoking the friendship between the two countries as “as firm and enduring as the TAZARA railway.” The article directly pushed back against what it characterized as “unwarranted accusations” from “unfriendly countries” during the project’s construction. It argued that Zambia and Africa should be a “great stage” (大舞台) for the cooperation of all countries rather than a “competitive arena” (競技場), a standard CCP formulation that positions its engagements as selfless acts showing generosity in particular towards countries in the Global South. The piece invoked the concept of a “development deficit” (發展赤字) as the framing problem China’s engagement purports to solve.