Members of a Chinese medical team pose for a photo upon their arrival at the airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, April 16, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Shoubao)
French television France 24 in an article recently posted on its website debunked some fake videos, reproaching the disinformation that seek to sow discord between China and Africa at a time when the world is grappling against the COVID-19 pandemic.
France 24 said a violent video in which a group of people can be seen beating an African man went viral on Twitter and other social media. The video purporting to show discrimination towards foreign nationals, particularly Africans, in China, is fake, it said, adding that it was an old footage that was shot not in China and had nothing to do with COVID-19.
Such rumors intended to nurture distrust between China and Africa never end, but can not last long as facts always speak louder.
FACTS SPEAK LOUDER
In the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, there are 30,768 foreigners including 4,553 Africans as of April 10.
"We take the same prevention and control measures for all personnel entering Guangzhou regardless of their nationality, race and gender," said Liu Baochun, director of the municipal foreign affairs office, when answering questions about local health management services during the COVID-19 epidemic at a press conference on April 12.
Daniel Chisenga, Consul General at the Zambian Consulate in Guangzhou, said there were no cases of any Zambian harassed.
Alima Danfakha Gakou, consul general of Mali in Guangzhou, told media on April 18 that the various measures have shown the importance Guangdong has attached to African residents, and a communication mechanism has been established between the African consulate generals and Guangdong and Guangzhou authorities.
"The measures taken by the Guangdong government to prevent the virus are very helpful and we talk about it with great pleasure," said Ethiopian Consul General in Guangzhou Teferi Melesse Desta.
"This is a time of jagged nerves," Charles Onunaiju, an expert in China-Africa studies recently told Xinhua in an interview, when talking about confusion and conflicting information over the conditions of Nigerians living in China.
The relations between China and Nigeria should never be undermined by controversies surrounding the novel coronavirus, he said.
Another fact is that China has been firmly supporting Africa's fight against COVID-19 since the disease broke out on the continent. Despite remaining pressure to contain the epidemic at home, China has donated personal protective equipment, offered relief funds, and sent experienced medical experts, standing ready to assist African countries to the best of its ability.
The latest batch of medical supplies donated by China arrived Thursday in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and is expected to be transferred to Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Djibouti, Lesotho, Madagascar, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Somalia as well as Tanzania's Zanzibar, with more said to come.
Chinese experts and officials from health and customs departments also shared information and experience about COVID-19 in video conferences with specialists from the African Union (AU), the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), and various African countries.
As COVID-19 cases continue to surge across the African continent, a 12-member team of Chinese medical experts was dispatched on April 16 by the Chinese government upon at the request of the Ethiopian government. On the same day, some other Chinese medical experts arrived in Burkina Faso. China has also activated its medical teams stationed there to help fight COVID-19.
There are nearly 1,000 Chinese medical personnel working in Africa long-term, according to China's National Health Commission.
