29 October 2007
Ndola — OPPOSITION United Liberal Party (ULP) and the United Party for National Development (UPND) have condemned Patriotic Front (PF) leader, Michael Sata, saying his blanket condemnation of Chinese nationals is wrong.
ULP president, Sakwiba Sikota and UPND chairman for information and publicity, Charles Kakoma, said in separate interviews yesterday that it was wrong for Mr Sata to attack all Chinese nationals in Zambia for perceived misdeeds of a few individuals.
Mr Sikota said Mr Sata's attacks were unfair as he did not single out a particular individual who was a crook. He said generalisation and xenophobia over certain nationalities were recipes for violence and leaders should avoid such things at all costs.
"One has to be careful before making such statements. There is no doubt that there are certain Chinese who are not doing things the way they are supposed to be, but that does not mean that all Chinese are crooks. It is dangerous to demonise nationalities," Mr Sikota said.
He said if Mr Sata had a Chinese national in mind, he would do well to single out the particular individual other than generalising.
Mr Kakoma said it was unfair for Mr Sata to label all Chinese investors as crooks. He said just like crooks existed in any other nationality, it was wrong to say the entire nation was made up of crooks.
He said there could be some Chinese investors that were possibly flouting the laws of the land but it was still unfair to say all of them were crooks.
"Like anywhere, you find good and bad people and so it is not fair to label all Chinese as crooks. We have the duty as leaders to promote and attract foreign investors. We have to ensure that investors come to Zambia and create jobs for our people," Mr Kakoma said.
He said leaders should work at strengthening the relationship between Zambia and China.
And the International Fellowship of Christian Churches (IFCC) has condemned Mr Sata's attacks saying they were not representative of the Zambian people.
IFFC president, Simon Chihana said in an interview yesterday that Zambia was in a hurry to develop and China was one of the countries that had shown willingness to assist and should, therefore, not be subjected to unwarranted attacks.
He said at this stage, Government should ensure that the investment climate was conducive not only for the Chinese but other nationalities as well.
"We must question in whose interest Mr Sata is speaking. Which people is he speaking for? If he has a problem with an individual Chinese he can discuss with the particular individual or go to the embassy. Why should someone of Mr Sata's status go to America only to start discrediting a sovereign China? It's wrong and unethical for someone to do what Mr Sata is doing," Bishop Chihana said.
Bishop Chihana said in every society crooks existed, but it was wrong to generalise that all Chinese investors were crooks. He said even in Zambia, some people were crooks yet it would be wrong for someone to regard all Zambians as crooks.
Such attacks, he said, would strain the good relations existing between China and Zambia.
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