His remarks follow a series of stories about Chinese nationals involved in illegal activities in the country. In the last two months, a Chinese national was caught at a local airport trying to siphon foreign currency out of the country amounting to over US$30 000 (MK4 Million). He was taken to court where he was found guilty and was asked to pay a fine of MK500 000 (US$3 000). Another Chinese national was allegedly found in possession of human body parts. The media also carried stories on Chinese investors who were reported to have crossed paths with local investors. Such stories prompted the Chinese Ambassador to call for a meeting to discuss how best his government could work together with other stakeholders in Malawi.
 
The high level meeting, which took place at the Ambassador’s residence, drew together media managers, senior government officials, representatives of MISA-Malawi, the Media Council of Malawi as well as reporters. The Chinese Ambassador pleaded with the media to also report on the positive contributions his government has made in Malawi.
 
“The Chinese government has pumped in a lot of money into Malawi on agriculture, healthcare and infrastructure development. We are constructing a magnificent parliament which will be ready next year. We have tar marked a 13 kilometer Karonga-Chitipa road in the northern part of Malawi. We are in the process of putting up a five-star hotel and an Olympics stadium in the capital city Lilongwe. Aren’t these positive developments you can highlight?” questioned Songtian.
 
The Chinese Ambassador also pointed out that his government was made to train local journalists. “In the last two months we have sent over 21 journalists to China on a familiarization tour. We have also given out 25 scholarships for journalists and other professionals to go and study in China and we intend to continue doing this. But what we get in return for this good gesture are 32 negative stories and five editorials, without any positive story,” he complained.
 
Commenting on the Ambassador’s remarks, the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Media and Communications, Kondwani Nankhumwa, advised the Chinese embassy to have in place a vibrant public relations office which should be readily available with information to the media. “Much as you expect the media to write positive stories about China, you should also appreciate that these reporters work in different media houses which have different rules and regulations,” Nankhumwa said.
 
Meanwhile Malawi cut ties with Taiwan in December 2007, in preference of the People’s Republic of China, after 42 years of cordial relationship. China has taken Malawian journalists to Beijing on two occasions on a familiarization tour.

Reagan Malumo
Programme Officer: Media Freedom Monitoring and Research
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Regional Secretariat
21 Johann Albrecht St
Private Bag 13386
Windhoek
Namibia
Phone: +264 61 232 975
Fax: +264 61 248 016
Mobile: +264 81 311 2626
E mail: reagan@misa.org

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