Western media lies about China "taking over" Uganda airport
Western media outlets have continued to spread lies about a Chinese firm "taking over" Uganda's main international airport located in Entebbe, 35 kilometres south of the capital, Kampala.
Although Ugandan authorities and the Chinese Embassy in
Uganda in November refuted relevant claims, some Western media outlets,
including the Wall Street Journal, have again used the story to discredit
Chinese-funded projects in Africa.
Foreign media picked up their old tunes recently, which are
used to politicize some Chinese outward assistance and slander China's
international cooperation, Zhou Yuyuan, senior research fellow at the Center
for West Asian and African Studies under the Shanghai Institutes for
International Studies, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
The malicious allegation that "Uganda
Surrenders Key Assets for China Cash" has no factual basis and is
ill-intended only to distort the good relations that China enjoys with
developing countries, including Uganda, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy
in Uganda said earlier.
"I wish to make it categorically clear that
the allegation that Entebbe Airport has been given away for cash is false. The
Ugandan government can't give away such a national asset. We have said it
before and repeat that it has not happened. There isn't an ounce of truth in
it," Vianney M. Luggya, spokesman of the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority
(UCAA), also said in November.
Zhou noted that most Western countries cannot
catch up with China in the infrastructure construction sector, which means they
are less competitive compared with China.
The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, for
instance, had undertaken about 3,600 projects worth $4 trillion by the end of
2020, according to a Refinitiv report.
"Not a single project in Africa has ever been
'confiscated' by China because of failing to pay Chinese loans. On the
contrary, China firmly supports and is willing to continue its efforts to
improve Africa's capacity for home-driven development," the Chinese
Embassy said.
There are differences in understanding between the
content of the loan contract signed between Uganda and China, and foreign media
reports, analysts said.
According to a report released by research lab
AidData, the loan contract didn't state China will "take charge" of
Entebbe Airport if Uganda cannot repay the loan. The contract stated that the
loan will be paid via a special bank account, which is for the operating
revenue of the airport.
The spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy also said
that the terms of the airport loan are in full compliance with the prevailing
conventions and practices in the international financial market.
