China has featured prominently in Nigerian news for the wrong reasons as the country battles the coronavirus and its consequences. If it is not for assaulting our citizens in Chinese cities, it would be for illegal mining of minerals. Given our long history of growing trade relations, it is necessary now to change the narrative of Nigeria-China relations.
“In the face of major public health crises and infectious diseases, the international community should stand in solidarity and work together, not resort to mutual accusation or demand retribution and accountability. As we recall, there has never been any precedence of the latter”, according to Sun Xiaoxing, Press Secretary at the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China to Nigeria. “Currently, China is standing together with Nigeria in the global fight against COVID-19. Our people are joining hands to overcome current difficulties.
Xiaoxing added: “Attacking and discrediting other countries will not save the time and lives lost. At this critical moment, we urge that some Nigerian legal practitioners will do more things to enhance mutual trust and help epidemic prevention and control in both countries, rather than dancing to the tune of a certain country to hype up the situation.”
The Abuja press statement was a response to news reports that a coalition of Nigerian lawyers had proclaimed they would sue the Chinese for damages amounting to $200m because of the coronavirus disease and the distress it caused Nigeria and Nigerians.
Nigerians are peeved at the Chinese for “attacking and discrediting” our citizens in their cities even after they had managed to tackle the COVID-19 threat in Wuhan. They pushed Nigerians out of their residences, whether it be a home or hotel, and on to the streets. They did so to other Africans in a vain effort to spin a new narrative that blames Africans as origins of the
We commend the pushback by the Nigerian Consul in Guangdong. He frontally took on the Director of a Chinese team physically assaulting Nigerians and stopped the measure. Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila also invited and spoke to the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria affirming that our country would not tolerate maltreatment of her citizens.
Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama then took on the Chinese over the matter of the treatment of Nigerians in Guanzhou city of Guangdong District. Onyeama told Chinese Ambassador Zhou Pingjian in his office in Abuja that video images of Nigerians thrown into the streets of Chinese cities or any such overt racism directed against Nigerians was “unacceptable” to the country. “We saw images of Nigerians in the streets with their possessions, and this was, of course, extremely distressing for us at home,” he said.
The Chinese have responded in the finest traditions of diplomacy to all these. Their Foreign Ministry in a statement claimed continuous briefing of the Nigerian embassy in China on the tests and containment measures in Guangzhou. It asserted, “Frankly, the percentage of Nigerian nationals affected by the virus in Guangzhou is disproportionately high”.
Of what do we speak here? The Chinese say “As of 23 April, altogether 138, 700 residents of Guangzhou including 5, 503 African nationals (3.97 percent) have been tested since 5 April. Among them, 185 tested positive with 164 (88.5 percent) asymptomatic cases.” The statement carefully avoided mentioning the number of Nigerian cases, but the Chinese later claimed Nigerians accounted for 72 positive cases of the 185.
If Africans account for only 3.9 percent of those tested in Guangzhou, only racism will account for profiling such an insignificant contribution to the toll. Nor should Nigerians receive negative statements such as “disproportionately high” percentage contribution. The conclusion by Sun Siaoxing does not cohere with the facts.
Significantly, both Nigeria and China recognise the imperative of friendship in our relationship that started formally in 1972. Trade relations currently favour China. China has shown good faith in diplomatic and economic ties with Nigeria, becoming a favoured trade partner.
It is essential to ensure that no party, by actions or statements, damages the tenor of the relationship. In particular, the Chinese must ensure a more favourable perception of their country by Nigerian citizens. It does not look good currently.
