China's Zhu to begin African tour on Aug. 25

0 Comments | Asian Political News, August 19, 2002

BEIJING, Aug. 12 Kyodo

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji will attend the U.N. World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa next month as part of a tour which will also take him to Algeria, Morocco and Cameroon, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.

Zhu will begin his African tour on Aug. 25, the report quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan as saying.

While attending the U.N. summit in Johannesburg on Sept. 2 to 4, Zhu is expected to formally declare China's intention to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on global warming.

The international treat requires industrialized countries to cut their greenhouse-gas emissions from 1990 levels by an average of 5.2% between 2008 and 2012.

The U.S. has refused to ratify it, partly on grounds that developing countries like China, the world's second largest carbon emitter of greenhouse gases, would not be subject to the protocol's provisions and would be able to increase their emissions.

While in Africa, Zhu is expected to shore up support for China amid an ongoing diplomatic contest with Taiwan to secure and maintain diplomatic recognition.

Taiwan has eight diplomatic allies in Africa, including Senegal, Malawi and Swaziland and Sao Tome and Principe, which were visited last July by Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian. They also include Chad, Gambia, Burkina Faso, Malawi and Liberia.

Only 27 countries in the world currently have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which in July suffered a setback when the tiny Pacific island-state of Nauru announced that it was cutting its 22-year-old diplomatic ties with Taipei in favor of ties with Beijing.