By Alois Vinga
THE Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe has challenged the United States to prove claims that a total of US$4, 5 billion was injected into the country amid stern calls for the super power to remove sanctions.
The Asian nation made the remarks in response to recent utterances by US ambassador-designate to Harare, Pamela M Tremont who criticized China-Zim relations for being exploitative, prompting China to question how the huge figure presented by the US was spent.
“We noticed that the new ambassador alleged the US invested US$4.5 billion in Zimbabwe. It is more than one third of the foreign currency inflows of Zimbabwe for a whole year. We are curious where the money went to, what projects have been completed?
“What benefits have been brought to Zimbabwean people and how much has been spent on defending democratic space to improve the election system? We will be very glad to see more investments from the US in Zimbabwe,” the diplomatic mission said.
China said in comparison, it has been undertaking concrete projects in Zimbabwe which provides solutions to the country’s citizenry.
“Every project of China-Zimbabwe cooperation and of every Chinese investment is on the ground. All the ministries of the Zimbabwean government are there and keep track of all foreign investment and cooperation.
“It is easy to find out where the Chinese funds are used and what benefits is generated .This is the best transparency,” the embassy said.
Responding to Tremont’s allegations that Chinese projects such as the new Parliament building would not benefit the people of Zimbabwe, China quizzed whether the US Capitol building does not serve the interests of American citizens.
“Is the US Capitol not serving the interests of the US people, is it just benefiting the US congressmen and senators? If so, the US should stop its budget for maintaining and protecting the Capitol. The US always advocates its model of “democracy”. Why does Zimbabwe not need a new Parliament building to develop the nation’s democracy?” the embassy quizzed.
The embassy also called on the US to cease interfering with the “unbreakable” relations China enjoys with Zimbabwe and the rest of the African continent.
