Govt cracks down on Chinese ambassador

 

In hot water: Chinese ambassador Lu Youqing with CCM secretary-general Abdulrahman Kinana during a CCM rally in Kishapu, Shinyanga Region, last week.

 

Dar es Salaam. The government has taken yet-to-be-named diplomatic action against the Chinese ambassador, Lu Youqing, for attending and speaking at political events organised by the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi in Shinyanga last week.

A statement from the ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said the Chinese ambassador crossed the line and breached article 41(1) of the Vienna Convention of 1961, which requires that foreign diplomats keep off the domestic affairs of their host countries, political events included.

“The Diplomatic and Consular Immunities and Privileges Act that was enacted by the Tanzania Parliament in 1986 also bans diplomats from getting involved in local politics,” said the statement issued by Senior Information Officer Ally Mkumbwa.

Diplomacy and international relations experts said the ministry most likely sent a protest note to the Chinese government and the United Nations. “It is the Chinese government that will decide what to do with the envoy,” said Dr Kitojo Wetengere, a lecturer at the Centre for Foreign Relations. “They might send him back to China or punish him otherwise.”

According to the Foreign Affairs ministry, Mr Lu was not the first to cross the line. Similar incidents reportedly took place between 2010 and 2012 and “appropriate” diplomatic steps were taken. Those envoys have not been named and neither have the steps taken against them been made public. There were complaints last year, though, that some foreign envoys were funding the political activities of some opposition parties. The government’s move came just a day after the main opposition party, Chadema, said it had sent a protest to the United Nations.

Addressing journalists at the party’s offices in Dar es Salaam on Monday, Chadema Director of Foreign Affairs Ezekiel Wenje said the diplomat intentionally violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations which bars diplomats from engaging in partisan politics in host countries.

“Chadema will write protest letters to the Tanzanian and Chinese governments, as well as the UN, seeking clarification on the matter,” Mr Wenje told reporters. “If this is not resolved, it may taint relations between the two countries.”

According to Dr Wetengere, the ambassador is the representative of his country in Tanzania, not of his party, and this makes it wrong for him to participate in local political affairs. His views were echoed by another academician from the University of Dar es Salaam, Dr Frank Tily, who also thought that Mr Lu was in the wrong since he was representing his country in a state that has more than one political parties. “His supporting CCM may give the impression that even the development projects that his country is doing in the country are in favour of CCM, which is not good,” Dr Tily said. The government is on record asking the diplomatic corps to keep off political activities on the grounds that they were working in support of Chadema.

Last week, Mr Lu accompanied CCM Secretary General Abdulraham Kinana and other party officials in a week-long tour of Shinyanga region, where they attended several functions, including commissioning a 120,000-tonne ginnery owned by a Chinese national. The Chinese envoy also attended rallies wearing the green baseball cap that is CCM’s official uniform.

CCM has maintained, though, that the Chinese envoy broke no law. Addressing an impromptu press conference at Mwandoya village in Meatu District on Monday, CCM Ideology and Publicity Secretary Nape Nnauye said the ambassador and the CCM secretary general, Mr Abdulrahman Kinana, were right to jointly inspect the projects because they are all involved parties.

He told reporters it was “amazing” that Chadema leaders were bitter about plans to resolve people’s problems, especially in cotton pricing and adding value to livestock products. He added: “Relations between CCM and the Communist Party of China go back a long way…relations between Tanzania and China have surpassed normal friendship. What is wrong if the two parties and the two countries work together for development of our people?”

According to Mr Nnauye, Chinese investment lined up for Shinyanga Region will greatly help in solving the problems of cotton farmers and pastoralists.
From: The citizen