0:00

Hi everyone, Laszlo Montgomery here once

0:02

again. If you're looking for the

0:04

China History Podcast, this is the

0:06

place. We've got that five-part

0:08

history of Chinese medicine series out of

0:10

the way. I'm probably back from London

0:12

by the time you hear this and,

0:15

well, all the major media outlets have

0:17

called the trip a smashing success. And

0:20

now back to business. And for this time,

0:22

I'm doing something I've never

0:24

done before in a CHP episode,

0:26

featuring a topic concerning the continent

0:28

of Africa. Now before I

0:30

get into what Africa means to me and

0:32

how this topic all came about, let me

0:34

mention I'm a proud subscriber

0:36

to Eric Olander and Cobus Van

0:39

Staten's China Global South project. And

0:42

since they started podcasting about China in

0:45

Africa, around the same time I launched

0:47

the CHP, and Kaiser and

0:49

Jeremy started Seneca, I have

0:52

listened, cover to cover, to almost every

0:54

one of their podcast episodes. And I

0:56

subscribe to their newsletter as well. And

0:58

if you're like me, and you're interested

1:00

in what's going on in Africa and

1:02

the Global South, this is a resource

1:04

that is second to none. They've been

1:06

my African gateway for years. Since

1:10

at least middle school when good old

1:13

Mr. Lenway, my seventh

1:15

grade social studies teacher, when he

1:18

taught us about Africa and lectured

1:20

about the story of Australopithecus and

1:22

Olduvai Gorge and Tanzania. From way

1:25

back then, the African continent

1:27

became one of my 101 passions

1:29

that I started developing at the beginning

1:31

of my life. And even

1:33

before I was 10, I had a big

1:35

stamp collection. And yeah, I was one of

1:37

those kids in the neighborhood or elementary school

1:39

who could rattle off all the names of

1:41

the countries in the world, their capital, and

1:43

you know, if they had a prior name,

1:46

I knew that too. And I

1:48

vividly recall all these exotic

1:50

self adhesive foil stamps from

1:52

Sierra Leone that further

1:55

fueled my interest. In any

1:57

TV documentary concerning anything about

1:59

Africa. I never missed a single

2:01

one. And pretty much all the

2:03

way into my advanced age, I've always

2:05

had this interest in Africa, and I've

2:07

never been there. So this

2:09

topic, Mwalimo Julius Nereri in China,

2:12

let me explain how this whole

2:14

thing came about. Way

2:17

back in 1968 or 69,

2:19

thereabouts, my pretty teen years,

2:22

I checked out this book from the

2:25

school library called Leaders of New Nations

2:27

by Leonard Kenworthy and Irma Ferrari. It

2:30

first came out in 1959, and I remember

2:32

that the book was brand

2:34

new, and I was the first one to check it out.

2:36

So it was the new 1968 edition

2:38

that I read. Leaders

2:41

of New Nations, it was by no

2:43

means a deceptive title. It

2:45

introduced the leaders of all these former

2:48

European colonies like Kenyatta,

2:51

Sengor, Balewa, Nkrumah, Muamad

2:53

V, and Nasser as

2:55

well. And also included

2:57

in the new edition that I read was

3:00

the story of the president of

3:03

Tanzania, Julius Nereri. He's

3:05

respectfully called Mwalimo Julius Nereri. Muamimo

3:07

is a Swahili word that means

3:10

teacher. So it was in that

3:12

book, Leaders of New Nations that

3:14

found its way into my middle

3:17

school library that I first read his

3:19

name. And because of

3:21

my early stamp collecting, I already knew

3:23

of the colonial past of the United

3:25

Republic of Tanzania and that it used

3:27

to be called Tanganyika. So

3:29

I was aware of Julius Nereri from reading this

3:32

book, and I read it with this pre-existing

3:34

interest and awareness about Africa. And

3:36

later on in the late 70s

3:39

and early 80s, when I used to

3:41

read all those old China

3:44

pictorial Beijing review and

3:46

other magazines, they always

3:48

seemed to have some

3:50

article about Tanzania. And even

3:52

back then, I noticed they

3:55

sure loved Nereri in China.

3:57

Julius Nilei are. And from

3:59

the earliest times Tanzania

4:02

always seemed to be held up as the

4:04

most model of friends as

4:06

far as relations between Africa and the

4:08

PRC went. I

4:11

had one other minor Tanzanian

4:13

nexus in my life when I

4:15

studied Chinese political science at the

4:18

University of Illinois under professor emeritus

4:20

George T. Yu. He wrote

4:22

a book that came out in 1970 that

4:25

was very big in its day

4:28

called China and Tanzania a study

4:30

in cooperation and he

4:32

was a respected scholar of China

4:34

and Africa and Tanzania in particular

4:36

so he opened my eyes wider

4:38

as to the importance of this

4:41

aspect of China's global relations and

4:43

I actually contacted him last year

4:45

he's in his early 90s now

4:48

and more than 40 years

4:50

after I took his classes I wrote

4:52

to him and you know sort of reminded

4:55

him who I was and encapsulated the

4:57

entirety of my China career and a

4:59

few sentences and I told him about the

5:02

China history podcast and how much I

5:04

appreciated all he taught me and he

5:06

wrote me back too. So with

5:08

Dr. Yu's area of specialization of

5:11

Tanzania in mind I thought

5:14

let's focus on China, East

5:16

Africa, the 1950s, 60s and 70s and the role Wailimu

5:22

Julius Nureri played during this

5:24

time as it related to

5:26

China. Tanzania could serve

5:28

as a microcosm for the much bigger

5:30

picture that was going on in post-colonial

5:33

Africa and all the liberation movements to

5:36

rid the continent of the

5:38

blight of colonialism and imperialism.

5:41

I know most of you already know

5:43

this but for those who never looked

5:45

closely at this nation of Tanzania before

5:48

it's located on the east coast

5:50

of Africa with Kenya to the northeast

5:52

sharing a coastline and to

5:54

the northwest is Uganda. Mozambique

5:56

borders the south and the islands

5:59

of Zanzibar, and Pemba are off

6:01

the coast of Tanzania. Zanzibar is accessible

6:03

by ferry from Dar es Salaam in

6:05

under two hours. It's not that far

6:07

off the coast. And

6:10

bordering Tanzania to the northwest are

6:13

Rwanda and Burundi, just below

6:15

Uganda. And bordering Tanzania

6:17

to the west and southwest are

6:20

the Democratic Republic of Congo and

6:23

Zambia and Malawi, seven countries

6:25

in all. You

6:28

heard me mention more than a few

6:30

times about the Ming Dynasty, Admiral Zheng

6:32

He, sailing his treasure fleets as far

6:34

as the Swahili coast, to ports

6:37

in Kenya and Tanzania. Well,

6:39

Swahili had served as a

6:42

kind of lingua franca for

6:44

that whole trading region that was

6:46

once dominated by Persian, Arab,

6:49

and Indian traders. Today,

6:51

Swahili is Tanzania's national language

6:53

with English and Swahili being

6:55

the official ones. Swahili

6:58

is a Bantu based language

7:00

with heavy Arabic, Persian, and

7:02

Portuguese influence. Over 60 million

7:05

people live in Tanzania today, about

7:09

63% Christian, 34% Muslim.

7:11

The country is famous

7:13

for Mount Kilimanjaro, Serengeti

7:15

National Park, Lake Tanganyika,

7:18

Lake Victoria, and copious

7:21

reserves of all

7:23

the minerals and metals that all developed

7:26

countries love. It ranks 121st in the

7:28

FIFA men's ranking, 146 for the women's

7:30

team. So

7:34

let's quickly look at Julius Nerere's bio

7:36

and get a sense of post-World War

7:38

I, World War II, Africa. And we

7:40

could use our perfect 2020

7:44

vision that we enjoy today in 2024, and look back on that

7:48

time and perhaps gain

7:51

a little context. That same old ideological

7:53

struggle that goes on today to win

7:55

the hearts and minds of the Lao

7:57

Bai Xing of all African nations. Nothing

8:00

new, as Lucian would have said about

8:02

these kinds of things. Old

8:05

wine, new bottle. To

8:07

refresh your memory, following the

8:09

historic 19th century scramble for Africa

8:11

and the Berlin Conference, 1885, though

8:15

the Belgians got there first, Germany

8:17

had ruled Tanganyika since then. They

8:20

had also cut a bunch of deals

8:22

with local tribal chieftains, and as

8:25

colonial masters they did well for

8:27

themselves. There was no picnic living

8:29

under German colonial rule. But

8:32

following Germany's defeat in World War I,

8:34

they lost all their colonies. These

8:37

were today's nations of

8:39

Namibia, Togo, Ghana, Cameroon,

8:41

and the jewel in

8:43

their colonial crown, German

8:45

East Africa. These

8:47

included the nations of present-day Burundi,

8:49

Rwanda, and Tanzania. As

8:51

we all read in high school, to

8:53

prevent such a cataclysm as World War

8:55

I from ever happening again, the League

8:58

of Nations was established. When

9:00

they met, it was decided

9:02

that all these former German colonies

9:05

should be handed over to the victorious

9:07

allies. These allies, according to

9:09

the terms of the Treaty of Versailles,

9:12

were mandated to assist these

9:15

former German colonies assigned to them

9:17

and guide them along the yellow

9:19

brick road to self-government

9:21

and independence. German

9:24

East Africa went to Great Britain, so

9:26

did Ghana. South Africa

9:28

got Namibia, Cameroon and Togo went

9:31

to France. Maybe it

9:33

was because of all that coveted mineral wealth

9:35

beneath the ground. Maybe there were other reasons,

9:37

but you can be sure in no time

9:40

at all, the ones

9:42

holding the mandate were carrying out

9:44

a go-slow policy in the direction

9:46

of self-government. And there were local

9:48

residents of those nations who rose

9:51

to the fore in the 1950s and articulated

9:54

the aspirations of many

9:56

African people who were wondering what

9:59

Was taking. So long to obtain

10:01

self rule. So. Julius near

10:03

Airy was one of these men. Right

10:06

man at the right time. Top

10:08

your communication skills educated, good

10:10

looking, charismatic but not flashy and

10:12

a man of the people. He

10:15

attended college and Kampala Uganda

10:17

that have an association with

10:19

the University of London and

10:21

their income. Paula He. Was.

10:24

Exposed to all the. Despised.

10:27

Aspects of Colonialism and the

10:29

African Liberation movements, and as

10:31

we've seen in China, universities

10:33

were often the incubators for

10:35

young people to acquire passions

10:37

for causes. And. Nineteen

10:39

Forty Six This. Twenty.

10:42

Four year old son of a

10:44

tribal chief know where he received

10:46

his diploma in return home to

10:48

Tanganyika. And. Following the end of

10:50

World War Two, Tanganyika went from being

10:52

a mandate to a trust territory, and

10:54

the British were signaling they were fine

10:56

with the whole self rule thing. as

10:58

soon as the tongue and eakins were

11:00

ready, nearing. Was

11:02

brought up as Roman Catholic and taught at

11:04

a mission school for a while. And.

11:07

Acting forty nine, he received a

11:09

scholarship to attend the University of

11:11

Edinburgh. The. First tongue and

11:13

cheek and to be accorded dishonor and

11:16

you can be sure he had plenty

11:18

of opportunities to school himself on world

11:20

events and. Political.

11:22

And economic ideologies in there

11:24

and Edinburgh. Julius know very

11:26

first learned about socialism and

11:29

found this to be a

11:31

holy suitable system for Tanganyika.

11:33

The. After receiving his masters in

11:36

history, returned to Tanganyika. Nineteen Fifty

11:38

Two taught high school for a

11:40

stretch until he decided to. Devote.

11:43

His energies whole time to the

11:46

struggle for tongue and cheek and

11:48

independence. He. Joined

11:50

a local social club that he

11:52

converted into a political organization called

11:54

the Tanganyika Africa National Union. or

11:57

time knew. This. was in

11:59

july nineteen And he

12:02

rolled up his sleeves and hit

12:04

the road traveling throughout the country

12:07

and preaching the message of Tanganyikin's

12:09

self-determination and to urge the

12:12

people to put nation

12:14

over tribe and to unite to

12:16

overthrow colonial rule. In 1955,

12:18

Nerere visited the US and was

12:20

able to get some FaceTime with

12:22

the Trusteeship Council of the United

12:25

Nations. There he was able to

12:27

urge them to hurry up with the whole

12:29

independence thing and getting Tanganyika admitted to the

12:31

UN. The time had come, World War II

12:33

had been over for a decade and when

12:35

he went back the following year in 1956,

12:39

he spoke before the UN General Assembly

12:41

where he demanded some dates and time

12:44

tables for Tanganyika and the dependents. The

12:47

British threw him a bone and let him

12:49

in the back door to fill a vacant

12:51

seat in the Legislative Council, but it didn't

12:53

take long for Nerere to figure out he

12:55

was spinning his wheels and

12:58

that he wasn't even in the same bed

13:00

as the British, let alone having completely different

13:02

dreams. But elections did

13:04

get held in 1958 and

13:06

Tanu candidates won all 30 seats,

13:09

becoming the most important

13:11

political force in Tanganyika. And

13:13

this ultimately led the next

13:16

year, 1959, to a vote

13:18

to allow self-government for Tanganyika.

13:21

Then as the main force behind Tanu, Julius

13:23

Nerere had been made Chief Minister in 1960.

13:27

The US State Department was hot to

13:30

get to know this up-and-comer and invited

13:32

him to visit. They were interested

13:34

to perhaps see how he could fit into

13:36

their Africa dream. He

13:39

spent five weeks in the US

13:41

and went on a coast-to-coast schmoozefest

13:43

meeting government officials and many

13:46

VIPs in the American Pan-African

13:48

Movement and other groups, getting the

13:50

word out and spreading his

13:52

message. And on December 9,

13:54

1961, Tanganyika had its Independence Day. The

14:00

new national flag was raised atop

14:03

Mount Kilimanjaro and above the newly

14:05

built National Stadium. And. Five days

14:07

later, Tanganyika, Became the

14:10

one hundred and fourth member of the

14:12

United Nations. Seven.

14:15

Weeks later, julius Nyerere he

14:17

resigned as prime minister after

14:19

reality set in and all

14:21

the. Rancid. An

14:23

unsightly aspects of the Game of

14:25

Politics said and also. He

14:28

step back and turned his attention to

14:30

remaking time new into something other than

14:32

what it had become, giving it a

14:35

new sense of purpose. And.

14:37

Prior to resigning, he had arranged to

14:39

sixty seven million dollar loan from the

14:41

World Bank. Now. Of course

14:44

that's chicken feed compared to

14:46

the numbers in today's glittery

14:48

Br I context, but near

14:50

every new. Tanganyika, Problems

14:52

were never going to be solved by

14:55

and she owes foreign aid and. Development.

14:57

Loans the heavy lifting.

15:00

Had to be done by the people

15:02

themselves. The country was being held down

15:05

by the same evil forces that held

15:07

all developing countries back. Poverty.

15:10

Ignorance and disease. And.

15:12

You're very look to the one saying

15:14

that drew all the European colonial as

15:16

to the African continent. As.

15:19

Tank. And Ecos potential savior and

15:21

that was of course mineral extraction.

15:23

In using those. Underground

15:25

Riches to lift up the tongue

15:28

and cheek and economy. Tanked.

15:30

And Yeager had all the

15:32

good stuff back then: gold

15:34

diamonds call uranium, nickel and

15:36

copper. Zanzibar. Had

15:38

historically been the center of the East

15:41

African slave trade. In. Modern history

15:43

at least the Portuguese for the

15:45

first Europeans to do that, saying

15:47

that Europeans tended to do back

15:49

then, gain a beachhead and then.

15:52

Force. themselves on the local inhabitants but

15:54

they were rejected and sixteen ninety eight

15:56

and zanzibar was taken over by the

15:59

sultanate of all Oman, and

16:01

a ruling Arab elite, controlled

16:03

Zanzibar economically and politically from

16:05

there on out. But

16:08

they, too, faced hard times when mid-19th

16:10

century the slave trade became so odious

16:12

that it was being abolished all over

16:14

the world. And

16:16

with the slave trade being to Zanzibar,

16:18

what oil is to Saudi Arabia, well,

16:21

this hit them hard. By

16:23

1890, Zanzibar and the other

16:25

main island of Pemba were protectorates

16:27

of Great Britain. Who

16:30

were they protecting? Well, the Sultan,

16:32

that's who. He stayed in power,

16:34

and other than the slave trade

16:36

being abolished and strictly enforced, it

16:38

was business as usual there as

16:41

a trading entrepot. The Sultan

16:43

remained in power even after the British

16:45

terminated their protectorate in 1963, and

16:49

to quickly fast forward, a

16:51

constitutional monarchy that was established

16:53

to rule Zanzibar didn't

16:55

last long. On January 12, 1964,

16:57

less than a month before the

17:00

FAB 4 played Ed Sullivan, the

17:02

Zanzibar Revolution was carried out that

17:05

ousted the minority Arab Sultanate and

17:07

replaced it with an African-led socialist

17:10

government. There was

17:12

a little bit of bloodletting that followed in

17:14

the wake of this revolution. 20,000

17:17

mostly Arab, but also Indian residents

17:19

of Zanzibar were killed. The

17:22

Bulsara family were among the many people

17:25

who got caught up in the violence

17:27

of the Zanzibar Revolution and had to

17:29

flee the island. Mr.

17:31

and Mrs. Bulsara and prodigal

17:33

son, 18-year-old Farouk Bulsara, left

17:36

Zanzibar and flew to their new

17:38

home in Britain. And

17:40

then, 22 years later, as the

17:42

lead singer of Queen, Farouk Bulsara,

17:44

better known as Freddie Mercury, played

17:47

Wembley during the magic tour. In

17:49

April of 1964, Zanzibar merged with

17:52

Tanganyika. They joined the first three

17:54

letters of their respective country's name,

17:57

And that's how Tanzania came about. Hunger

18:00

Yuka Zanzibar. It was called

18:02

the United Republic of Tanganyika

18:04

in Zanzibar at first, but.

18:07

A consensus arose that thought it best

18:09

just to call the place Tanzania. And.

18:12

You can be sure and over.

18:14

And Beijing and the friendly confines

18:16

of the leadership compound and Jong

18:18

Nam Hi. Chairman. Mao,

18:20

Joanne Lie and the

18:22

entire Ccp leadership. Were.

18:25

Gazing intently at this situation

18:27

and Africa. By.

18:29

This time and Nineteen Sixty Four

18:31

the whole Great Leap Forward debacle

18:34

and Sam and had already happened.

18:36

Mao was laying low, taken as

18:38

lumps, being treated like a dead

18:40

ancestor, and jones and to make

18:42

a comeback. But. No matter

18:44

how tarnished his brand may have been,

18:46

he was still Chairman Mao. Maybe.

18:48

Not in the Us or other Western

18:51

nations, but in the Prc. That still

18:53

meant a lot. And mouse new

18:55

this and harnessing the power of these

18:58

masses of people who held him in

19:00

such high esteem. Was. Going

19:02

to be the cornerstone of his

19:04

return to power and right as

19:06

this was all happening over in

19:08

Africa. One. By one,

19:10

all these new nations were

19:13

created. Tenure achieved independence. And

19:15

nineteen sixty three. Malawi and

19:17

Zambia. Nineteen sixty four, Gambia.

19:19

Nineteen Sixty Five. And while

19:22

Africa's leaders tried in vain

19:24

to. Stabilize. Their new

19:26

nations and crank up their

19:28

economies. Outside forces were still

19:31

there, just as they had always

19:33

been. Going back to Vasco da

19:35

Gama in the Portuguese and Forty

19:37

Ninety Eight to engage in their

19:39

great game. And. It was

19:41

into this whole dynamic of

19:43

the Soviet Union, the United

19:46

States, Britain, France, and other

19:48

smaller players all mucking about.

19:50

That. China also through their hat

19:53

into the African ring. Even

19:55

after that rubbing he had to

19:57

take for is great Leap Forward

20:00

mile and the eyes of many

20:02

leaders of new African nations and

20:04

leaders of the liberation. France was

20:07

like a rock star. Freddie Mercury,

20:09

P and nothing on Chairman Mao

20:11

and Maoism was enthusiastically embraced by

20:14

many of these African leaders, politicians

20:16

and revolutionaries. They

20:18

also had to take stock of

20:21

their own countries situation and look

20:23

to other political and economic models

20:25

to choose the best path forward.

20:27

and mouse particular siren song of.

20:30

Anti colonial, anti west self.

20:33

reliance. Im a bit of

20:35

the old ultra violence if

20:37

necessary. Really resonated with

20:40

many from their perch and

20:42

subsaharan Africa. What wasn't

20:44

a like. And all

20:46

these new African nations where the

20:48

bells of the ball early on.

20:51

No. One quarter them more aggressively than

20:53

mouth. This went back to the April

20:55

Nineteen Fifty Five band on conference and.

20:58

Co. And lies five principles

21:01

for peaceful coexistence. You.

21:04

Know all the contentious issues

21:06

today related to China's engagements

21:08

and Africa in the West.

21:10

Casting doubt on their intentions.

21:12

Went back to the band

21:14

on conference. Same sniping, just

21:16

different words but mile look

21:19

to Africa. And. New

21:21

a good thing when he saw. It. And. With

21:23

his own country still and split

21:25

pants and trying to make it's

21:27

way in the world, Mouse needed

21:29

friends and these post colonial nations.

21:31

And where the lowest hanging fruits out there. China.

21:35

Sunk. A lot of money into

21:37

their African adventure during the nineteen sixties

21:39

and seventies. He back then Santa was

21:42

up pauper compared to now. Just.

21:44

In the past two decades, scientists

21:46

invested more than one hundred and

21:49

fifty billion dollars an African infrastructure

21:51

another big projects. But. Back

21:53

and mouse day he had a little

21:55

coin purse compared to what seat and

21:57

paying has at his disposal to the.

22:00

But despite all that, they

22:02

invested heavily in Africa. Let

22:05

me quote from the great Julia Lovell's

22:08

book on Maoism. She was quoting an

22:10

internal PLA document that pretty much sums

22:12

up how the party looked

22:14

at all this. Quote, Africa

22:16

itself looks like the seven warring

22:18

states. It is a

22:20

huge political exhibition where a hundred

22:23

flowers are truly blooming, waiting there

22:25

for anyone to pick. Africa

22:28

is now both the center of

22:30

the anti-colonialist struggle and the center

22:32

for East and West to fight

22:34

for control of an intermediary zone.

22:37

We must tell them, in order to help them,

22:40

about the revolutionary experience of the

22:42

communists in this generation. In Africa,

22:46

we do no harm to anyone.

22:48

We introduce no illusions, for all

22:50

we say is true. And

22:54

even though money was tight, just like

22:56

the big, glitzy, folk-hack events of our

22:58

day, the Chinese of

23:00

Mao's generation rolled out the vermilion

23:03

carpet for their African comrades. High-profile

23:06

meetings, banquets, photo ops

23:08

with all the top

23:11

first-generation CCP stars, Chairman

23:13

Mao, Premier Zhou, Liu

23:15

Shao-chi, Chen Yi, Ye

23:17

Jianying, Deng Xiaoping. During

23:20

the first half of 1960, more

23:22

than a hundred representatives from Africa

23:24

had beaten a path to Mao's

23:26

door, hoping some of that magic

23:28

might rub off on them. It

23:31

all began for East Africa with a

23:34

man named Abdul Rahman Mohammed Babu. He

23:36

was the Secretary General of the Zanzibar Nationalist

23:39

Party, and he got the ball rolling in

23:41

1959 with his first visit to the PRC.

23:46

Abdul Rahman Mohammed Babu initiated the relationship

23:49

with China and made multiple trips there

23:51

in 1963 and 1964, paving

23:55

the way for the presidential visit of

23:58

Julius Nereri in 1963. Babu

24:02

was a China friend and all that

24:04

that meant. He received the full

24:06

treatment when he was there and took

24:08

it all in. And everything he

24:11

saw with his own eyes and all

24:13

the lectures, he brought it

24:15

back to Zanzibar and became Chairman

24:17

Mao's one-man PR firm. And

24:20

thanks to Babu's sincere and useful

24:22

friendship, the Chinese government warmly welcomed

24:24

students who came to China and

24:26

got the same orientation to the

24:28

Chinese way. And they went back

24:31

to Zanzibar and talked their experience

24:33

up and delivered glowing reports about

24:35

China. And they advocated for looking

24:37

to the PRC as

24:40

Zanzibar's development model. And after the

24:42

spring of 1964 and Zanzibar's

24:45

union with Tanganyika and the

24:47

beginning of Tanzania history, over

24:50

on the East African mainland side,

24:52

they got to hear all about how great

24:55

China was too. In

24:57

1964, the so-called Zhou Enlai

24:59

African Safari took place. That

25:02

was what many people called it. Premier

25:04

Zhou went on a seven-week,

25:06

ten-nation tour of Africa, visiting

25:09

all the independent countries

25:11

between December 1963, right after

25:14

the Kennedy assassination, and February

25:16

1964. This

25:20

was the first time someone this high

25:22

up in the PRC government had ever

25:24

visited the African continent. It

25:26

was a 50-person delegation, including

25:28

foreign minister and PLA legend

25:30

Chen Yi. During

25:33

this trip, during a visit to

25:35

Somalia, Zhou announced his eight principles

25:37

for aid to Africa. They

25:40

were, China always bases itself

25:42

on the principle of equality and

25:44

mutual benefit in providing aid to

25:46

other nations. China never

25:48

attaches any conditions or asks for

25:50

any privileges. China

25:53

helps lighten the burden of recipient countries

25:55

as much as possible, help

25:57

recipient countries to gradually achieve self-reliance.

26:00

and independent development, and strive

26:02

to develop aid projects that

26:04

require less investment, but yield

26:06

quicker results, and provide the

26:08

best quality equipment and materials

26:10

of its own manufacture. And

26:13

in providing technical assistance, China shall

26:15

see to it that the personnel

26:17

of the recipient country fully

26:19

master such techniques. And

26:21

last, the Chinese experts are not

26:23

allowed to make any special demands

26:25

or enjoy any special amenities. So

26:29

everything we see today with respect

26:31

to China's engagement with Africa all

26:34

goes back to this Joe Enlai

26:36

trip of late 1963. Because

26:43

of the January 12, 1964

26:46

Zanzibar Revolution and later discord in

26:48

the Tanzanian military, Joe had to

26:50

pass on his visit to Dar

26:52

es Salaam. And a

26:54

few months after he was back in

26:56

Beijing, the PRC extended diplomatic ties to

26:58

Tanzania on April 26, 1964. And

27:03

in June 1964, Babu and

27:05

Tanzania Vice President Kawawa went

27:07

to Beijing and signed an

27:09

agreement with 320 million shillings

27:11

worth of development aid. Today,

27:14

the Tanzanian shilling is

27:16

about $2,500 to the US dollar.

27:19

Not sure what it was back

27:21

then. But things continued to warm

27:23

up and in October

27:25

1964, Tanzania

27:27

opened an embassy in Beijing. And

27:30

right about here is

27:33

when Julius Nereri really began

27:35

to create some controversy in

27:37

the West, especially among Anglo-American

27:40

elites. Same old thing, he was

27:42

trying not to get forced into declaring

27:44

for any side in the African

27:47

great game surreptitiously playing out

27:49

all around him. 1965

27:52

was as polarized a world as it had ever been since

27:54

World War II. And like 2024, not a peaceful time at

27:56

all. Vietnam

28:00

War, the Indo-Pakistani War,

28:02

the Dominican War, and the

28:06

ever-simmering Middle Eastern pot. Western

28:08

nations saw how well Julius

28:10

Nerere was getting on with

28:12

his new Chinese friends and

28:15

kicking the tires of socialism. So

28:17

Babu took care of

28:19

all the necessary groundwork to prepare

28:22

for Julius Nerere's China visit in

28:24

1965. Once

28:27

Julius Nerere touched down in Beijing,

28:30

there were plenty of photo-op moments. He

28:32

got to meet everyone and signed a

28:34

10-year friendship treaty with the PRC, and

28:37

during this inaugural visit Nerere

28:39

was swept off his feet by what he

28:41

saw. It was a very

28:43

choreographed visit, but nothing new there, and

28:45

after he had taken it all in,

28:48

he was sold on the idea that this Maoist

28:52

model of agrarian development and

28:54

organization was the one that

28:56

was right for Tanzania. It

28:58

was anti-colonialist, anti-imperialist, stressed

29:01

self-reliance, austerity, and the

29:04

dignity of peasant labor.

29:07

For a poor developing country like Tanzania,

29:10

this kind of model was more

29:12

realistic than other development models. And

29:15

for the next 10 years,

29:17

Mwalymoo Julius Nerere held high

29:19

China's banner in Africa, and

29:21

in return the PRC, again not sitting

29:24

on the kind of sovereign wealth that

29:26

they have today, was very

29:28

generous with Tanzania. At

29:31

his meeting with Zhou, Liu

29:33

Shaoqi, and Mao, Nerere had

29:36

his moment to present his

29:38

big ask from China. This

29:40

was a big one. It

29:42

concerned a proposed project called

29:44

the Tanzan Railway, Tanzania Zambia

29:46

Railway. October 24, 1964, Zambia, formerly

29:48

northern Rhodesia,

29:52

gained independence from Great Britain. Back

29:55

then, Nerere and Zambian President Kenneth

29:57

Kaunda were in discussion about a

30:00

rail line that could bypass the

30:02

British controlled line that went through

30:04

Rhodesia and South Africa. If

30:06

Zambia could ship its copper to the

30:09

port of Dar es Salaam, well, they

30:11

could bypass that odious former colonial option.

30:14

January 1967, Kenneth

30:16

Colunda visited China and discussed the

30:19

project further. And then later that

30:21

year in September, the

30:23

three sides signed the agreement to

30:25

build the railway, a 988 million

30:28

RMB interest free loan to

30:31

be repaid between 1973 and 2013.

30:35

Today, this line

30:37

is known as the Tanzanian

30:39

Zambian Railway Authority or Tansara.

30:41

It was originally a

30:44

1860 kilometer railway single

30:46

track and this project was

30:48

the largest most high profile

30:51

overseas aid project for China

30:53

up to that time. It

30:55

was comparable in profile and

30:57

significance to the Kenyan standard

30:59

gauge railway of our day.

31:02

It was touted as the Great Uhuru or

31:04

Freedom Railway when it was built between April

31:06

1970 and 1975 at a cost of $406

31:08

million. That's a little over $3

31:15

billion in today's much inflated dollars. Building

31:19

a railway is not usually such a

31:21

big deal, but this one was when

31:24

it was announced. China got to give

31:26

the US and USSR the

31:28

middle finger where this project was

31:30

concerned. And the same could be

31:33

said of colonialism and neocolonialism. At

31:36

this time when the Tanzan railway

31:38

was announced, the Sino-Soviet split was

31:40

an afterburner and all western development

31:43

banks who had been approached sat

31:46

on their hands when the Tanzanian

31:48

and Zambian finance ministers tried to

31:50

drum up interest for this project.

31:54

And as can be often said today,

31:56

there were less strings attached to the

31:58

loans when dealing with China compared compared

32:00

to what the IMF and World Bank

32:02

were offering. Needless to

32:04

say, there was a whole lot of scoffing

32:06

going on in the west about the prospects

32:09

of this railway and the mess

32:11

that China was surely going to make of it.

32:14

One of the better known quotes from

32:16

Julius Nerreri that still reverberates today concerned

32:18

the provenance of the development

32:20

aid and the financing for the

32:23

Tanzan Railway. He said, quote, all

32:25

the money in the world is either red

32:27

or blue. I do not have

32:29

my own green money. So where can I get some

32:32

from? I'm not taking a Cold

32:34

War position. All I want is the money

32:36

to build it. End quote. You'll

32:38

hear variations of that sentiment in all

32:41

corners of the world today. Nerreri

32:43

was just looking out for Tanzania.

32:45

He was very wary of falling

32:48

in between these Cold

32:50

War tectonic plates that by

32:53

their very nature could inadvertently cause so

32:56

much pain to his country. To

32:59

build the Tanzan Railway, China was

33:02

willing to show a level of

33:04

generosity that astounded everyone. It

33:07

sent shockwaves through the world

33:09

of development aid, infrastructure financing,

33:11

and construction. It

33:13

cost Mao an arm and a leg,

33:15

but the message it sent the west,

33:17

who weren't showing the PRC any respect,

33:19

was huge. This was China's

33:21

biggest ever project of its kind in

33:23

the third world, and it broadcast a

33:25

message to the newly independent countries of

33:27

Africa trying to find their way in

33:29

the cruel world who their

33:32

friend was. It's well

33:34

documented that tens of thousands of

33:36

Chinese workers, cadres, and experts who

33:39

were sent to work on this project committed

33:41

the same cultural faux pas

33:43

as everyone else in our time. In

33:46

the 1950s, when the Soviets

33:48

had sent their experts to China,

33:50

language and cultural differences created a

33:52

lot of tension and misunderstandings.

33:54

And now with PRC

33:57

experts in Tanzania, even with all

33:59

the mutual enthusiasm for their new

34:02

ties. Few among the

34:04

masses on both sides had degrees in

34:06

African or Chinese studies. So

34:09

like it is today and probably

34:11

forever, there were a lot of

34:14

hard feelings bubbling beneath the surface.

34:17

While I was working on this episode, I got

34:19

a notice from the USC China

34:23

Institute about a postdoctoral fellow,

34:25

Dr. Kun Huang, who

34:28

had just given a talk about the

34:30

subject of this railway as a Cold

34:33

War era symbol of China-Africa

34:35

friendship. She also explored the

34:37

matters of race and how

34:40

cross-cultural misunderstandings created a certain

34:42

dynamic. Sorry, I missed that one.

34:45

Anyway, getting this railway built was a

34:47

brave and Herculean effort with

34:50

plenty of drama and tragic

34:52

losses of life. But

34:55

it got built despite all

34:57

the planning and engineering mistakes.

34:59

Mao wasn't shy about telling

35:01

Nerari that. He was tightening

35:03

his own belt in China and forsaking

35:05

development in his own country for

35:08

the sake of socialist solidarity and their

35:10

common struggle. And most of that was

35:12

probably true. As far as

35:14

Maoism and Mao Zedong thought, the

35:17

chairman was naturally a true believer.

35:19

And he liked how no small

35:21

number of Africans looked at him

35:24

as some kind of deity whose

35:26

ideology would liberate Africa. So between

35:28

this and the aid that was

35:30

coming in, it all gained the

35:33

PRC some serious

35:36

anti-colonial street cred with

35:38

all the main beneficiaries

35:40

of their efforts. 1960s,

35:42

PRC started sending medical and

35:44

agricultural outreach programs similar to

35:47

the Peace Corps. And they

35:49

also supplied military training and

35:51

aid to African liberation groups,

35:54

including the ANC. PRC

35:56

operatives work closely with the

35:59

anti-colonial colonial freedom fighters, the

36:01

medical teams in particular were

36:03

a walking, talking, pro-CCP, pro-Mao,

36:07

pro-PRC public relations machine.

36:10

Mao was banking on all-out revolution

36:13

in Africa. He

36:15

looked at China's experiences and saw

36:17

that the same rogues gallery of

36:19

imperialists who pushed China around were

36:21

now doing more or less the

36:23

same with most of these African

36:26

nations. Mao's eyes, the ground, didn't

36:28

get any more fertile than Africa in the 1960s and 70s,

36:32

and the common struggle against the

36:34

western imperialists was the atomic force

36:36

that bound the African nations with

36:39

the PRC. Mao

36:41

dipped his toe in the water with

36:43

early support he gave to the FLN,

36:45

or National Liberation Front, who was given

36:48

La France, a lot of

36:50

grief in the Algerian War of Independence.

36:53

Mao was going to play the

36:55

long game here with respect to

36:57

spreading Maoist internationalism and reaching

36:59

out to all these newly independent African

37:02

nations. Despite the

37:04

dire needs of PRC citizens,

37:07

Mao dedicated a lot of very

37:09

limited resources to spreading his message

37:11

and supporting all the liberation movements

37:13

still fighting for independence.

37:16

Mao's eyes were on the prize. He

37:19

wanted the PRC to rightfully gain

37:21

admittance to the UN, including the

37:23

seat on the Security Council. One

37:25

nation, one vote. Those

37:27

newly independent nations, as they were admitted

37:29

to the UN, one by one,

37:32

slowly began to

37:34

tilt the scales of membership in favor

37:36

of the PRC. And

37:39

if Eric and Cobus had their show back in the 1960s,

37:41

they'd think the 2020s were a

37:44

case of deja vu all over again.

37:46

No one was using the term debt-trap

37:48

diplomacy yet, but all this

37:51

early PRC assistance and engagement with

37:53

Africa was scoffed at by the

37:56

West, and China's intentions were always

37:58

portrayed in a most nefarious

38:00

light. Between the

38:02

PRC and their western detractors,

38:04

the African people all got

38:07

PhDs in propaganda and a free

38:09

survey course in Rhetoric 101. African

38:13

nations weren't being asked to take sides any

38:15

more than they're being asked to take sides

38:17

today. That is to say, the

38:19

request to choose sides was implicit. Same

38:22

back then as it is now, and

38:24

the African reaction hasn't changed much since

38:26

then either. Each nation, depending

38:29

on their particular circumstances, only

38:32

cared for what was best for them.

38:34

Who was the geopolitical beneficiary? That

38:37

wasn't a deciding factor. In

38:39

that old book from 1968, Leaders

38:42

of New Nations, there was a sentence

38:44

that stuck out that kind of showed

38:46

how the West and certainly the US

38:48

viewed China's engagement with Africa. It went,

38:50

quote, many communists from

38:53

Zanzibar came to the mainland after

38:55

the so-called Union, and perhaps paved

38:57

the way for the heavy Chinese

39:00

assistance program in Tanzania. This

39:02

communist assistance to Tanzania has worried

39:05

the neighboring states of Kenya and

39:07

Uganda, who see it as a

39:09

threat to East Africa. USA,

39:12

USSR, the PRC, they were all

39:14

looking for the same thing to

39:16

varying degrees. As much as all

39:19

three tended to play their African

39:21

partners for fools sometimes, politicians

39:24

in the African nations were wise to

39:26

the whole dynamic of the 1960s and

39:28

70s and masterfully

39:31

played the three main contenders off against

39:33

each other. The Mao

39:35

generation, dealt in chump change

39:38

compared to the PRC of the Xi

39:40

Jinping era, but regardless of the size

39:42

of Chinese largesse in Africa, Mao

39:45

too had to deal with

39:47

bad loans, debt refinancing, budget

39:49

overruns on infrastructure projects, and

39:51

always reacting to unexpected and

39:53

unanticipated bumps in the road

39:56

that ultimately meant

39:58

delays in projects and more

40:00

money needed. And like

40:02

you'll hear today on the African side,

40:04

they fumed occasionally about shoddy

40:07

workmanship and being taken advantage

40:09

of. The ROI

40:12

was a mixed bag for China depending on which

40:14

African nation you wanted to zero in on. In

40:16

the end, Mao didn't

40:19

get what he really wanted. The people

40:21

of the African countries by the

40:23

1970s, by and large, said, thanks

40:25

for the aid and the spiritual

40:27

support and providing the model to

40:30

emulate. But when it came to

40:32

the Marxism, Leninism, Mao Zedong thought

40:34

part, they said, thanks, but no

40:36

thanks. Well,

40:38

May 25, 1966, Nie

40:41

Yuanze pasted her dazu bao on the

40:44

campus of Peking University, and that's often

40:46

pointed to as the start of the

40:48

Cultural Revolution. 1966 to 1968 were

40:50

the main years, and in Tanzania, 1967

40:57

and elsewhere in Africa, they too

40:59

got all caught up in the

41:01

optimism and revolutionary fervor. And

41:03

as I said, Nie Rari saw merit

41:06

in the Chinese model and believed with

41:08

modifications, of course, that it could work

41:10

in Tanzania's specific case. 1965, 1966, 1967

41:14

were the glory days

41:17

of the relationship between Julius Nie Rari

41:19

and the first generation of

41:22

CCP leaders. On

41:24

February 5, 1967, Nie Rari

41:27

announced the Arusha Declaration and

41:30

its centerpiece policy of Ujama.

41:33

It was Tanu's signature program.

41:36

Ujama was a Maoist

41:38

social and economic revolution

41:40

heavy on self-reliance. As

41:43

Mao believed it would happen in China,

41:45

Nie Rari also believed that through collective

41:47

hard work, the Tanzanian

41:50

people were going to transform agricultural

41:52

development and lift up the nation's

41:54

fortunes and the people along with

41:57

it. The Excitement

41:59

of Mao's. Thought and all

42:01

the slogans and meanings behind the

42:03

cultural revolution spilled over into Tanzania.

42:06

Mile badges were worn. Many of

42:08

the symbols of the Cultural revolution

42:11

were all enthusiastically embraced by many

42:13

in Tanzania. The Little Red Book.

42:16

In. English and Swahili was everywhere and

42:18

just like mom had red guards

42:20

know very also had his own

42:22

use who. Acted. As coerce

42:25

errors and enforcers of time,

42:27

new party rules even started.

42:29

Mouse suit said official events.

42:31

Tanzania. Government officials were made

42:34

to live like keto. Austere,

42:36

frugal, know conspicuous wealth. never

42:38

he demanded that they had

42:40

to set an example. He.

42:42

Went all out as far as

42:44

embracing these Mao Was policies and

42:47

for this he was just. Castigated

42:50

by western reporters and

42:52

government spokespersons, The.

42:54

Bookstores and Dar Es Salaam

42:56

were flooded with Chinese titles

42:58

and English translated into Swahili

43:01

and other languages. Radio programs

43:03

from China were also quite

43:05

popular. Maoism. Was.

43:08

Having It's Moment and Tanzania their

43:10

neighbor to the Northeast tenure and

43:12

was making a lotta noise about

43:14

this. Conspicuous. Chinese

43:17

presence there and what were they

43:19

up to? with respect. all this

43:21

transfer of Maoist ideology. In

43:23

for a penny and for a

43:25

pound near airy. Went ahead and

43:27

did the ultimate. He nationalised all

43:29

the banks, industries and mining of

43:32

minerals and metals near where he

43:34

shared mouse passion for the mass

43:36

line he to try to whip

43:38

up the enthusiasm of the masses

43:40

of peasants and get them on

43:42

board with this who drama program.

43:44

He. Wasn't conan great leap forward or anything,

43:46

but. I'm sure a lot of what

43:49

in your area was advocating for has a

43:51

familiar ring. Do it. When.

43:53

He first went to China nineteen sixty

43:55

five. The worst of the Great Leap

43:57

had already been cleaned up. Petty.

43:59

Com and nine. The And Sixty and toward

44:01

the countryside of Honan province. He

44:04

might have had second thoughts about the

44:06

policies he force fed his nation. For.

44:09

Now the golden time of

44:11

Sino, Tanzania and relations was

44:13

running at full throttle ebbed

44:15

last into the nineteen seventies.

44:18

One. Factor that slow the wheels

44:20

of progress was a lack of

44:22

Tanzanians who could speak Mandarin and

44:24

an equal lack of Chinese who

44:27

had a true working proficiency in

44:29

Swahili. English only works sometimes. Into

44:32

Nineteen Sixty Eight with Who Chama

44:34

in full swing. Some. People

44:36

were wondering if Tanzania was going

44:39

through it's own version of mouse

44:41

cultural revolution. New. Very Paid

44:43

another visit to the Prc and

44:45

that year and was of course

44:47

very warmly received. Numerous me ended

44:49

up having a similar problem is

44:51

mile. There. Was a sense to

44:53

whip the students and disaffected youth up

44:55

into a frenzy and get their hopes

44:57

ratcheted up and allow that a blow

44:59

off some steam. Well. It wasn't

45:01

so easy to cool these.

45:04

Nuclear fuel rods down once I

45:06

got ignited. And. Nineteen Sixty

45:08

Nine, the Chinese open their embassy

45:10

and Dar Es Salaam by the

45:12

following year, if they had become

45:14

the largest supplier of military assistance

45:17

to Tanzania, pushing Canada down into

45:19

second place. In. Nineteen

45:21

Seventy One, Six African nations

45:23

change their recognition from the Arrow

45:25

see to the Prc. That.

45:28

Year served as the tipping point. The.

45:30

Prc government and how had

45:32

the necessary two thirds majority?

45:35

October twenty fifth, Nineteen

45:37

Seventy One Twenty Six Session of

45:39

the Un General Assembly adopted resolution

45:41

To Seven Five Eight to restore

45:44

China seat at the Un. To.

45:46

The Prc. In. China received

45:48

seventy six of one hundred and

45:51

eleven votes, And twenty six of

45:53

those votes. Came from

45:55

African countries. Mouse. Investment

45:57

going back to the early sixties.

46:00

Paid. Off In the end. My

46:03

when the surviving leadership of the party what

46:05

was left of them in the waning years

46:07

with the Cultural Revolution, they knew they wouldn't

46:09

have been able to have their historic moment

46:12

at the Un. Without. The support

46:14

and votes of their. Hard.

46:16

One friends and allies have the

46:18

African Continent. Between. Nineteen

46:20

Seventy Three and Seventy Five,

46:22

Operation Fiji was carried out.

46:25

This carried a saint cent

46:27

of mouse failed policies of

46:29

collectivisation and agriculture back in

46:31

the nineteen fifties. Near

46:33

Aires New policy of. Force.

46:35

Village is a sin declared that anyone

46:38

who hadn't volunteered to be sent down

46:40

to the countryside back in Nineteen sixty

46:42

seven. Or. Now left with

46:44

no choice use were sent down to

46:46

the villages just like Mom had done

46:48

in China starting in December. Nineteen Sixty

46:50

eight. And. His

46:52

fourth visited the Prc and Nineteen

46:55

seventy Four Nary had said quote.

46:57

Two. Things convince me that socialism

46:59

can be built in Africa and

47:02

that it is not A utopian

47:04

vision for capitalism is ultimately incompatible

47:07

with the real independence of African

47:09

states. The. Second thing is

47:11

China is providing encouragement and

47:13

an inspiration for younger and

47:16

smaller nations which seek to

47:18

build socialist societies and quote.

47:21

In. Total Julius Nyerere. He

47:23

visited China thirteen times. The.

47:26

First passenger train of the

47:28

Ten Sam Railway arrived in

47:30

Dar Es Salaam. October first,

47:32

Nineteen seventy five. By then

47:34

who Jama was finished him.

47:36

Only lip service was being paid to

47:39

the ideals that represented. Though

47:41

nowhere near the catastrophe that China

47:43

faced. And Nineteen Fifty Nine Nineteen

47:45

Sixty. Who. Charm policies lead

47:47

to famine and increase poverty.

47:50

By. nineteen eighty three the ten sam

47:53

railway authorities had to cry out for

47:55

help the railways in never was able

47:57

to meet it's target operational capacity politics

48:00

and Cold War antics

48:02

pushed a lot of freight traffic

48:05

to competing transport lines. By the

48:07

1990s, fortunes of

48:09

this once heralded

48:11

project that showcased PRC Africa

48:13

friendship and cooperation began to

48:16

slide quickly. By the

48:19

2000s, the railway was for all intents

48:21

and purposes in disrepair, but

48:23

a showcase project such as this

48:25

that had such profound

48:27

significance back in the Mao era

48:29

was kept alive mostly with Chinese

48:31

money. And into our day, what

48:33

to do about Tanzara is still

48:36

hotly debated. There are packages for

48:38

tourists to ride this railway where

48:40

they can take in

48:42

some pretty incredible scenery and wildlife,

48:44

but that wasn't what Tanzan was

48:47

built for. But

48:49

just before I posted this episode to the

48:51

CHP feed, there's been a little bit of

48:53

excitement with respect to this historic railway. Back

48:56

in December, 2023, Chinese,

48:58

Tanzanian, and Zambian officials

49:00

began discussing a possible

49:03

billion dollar injection by the China

49:05

Development Bank to breathe new

49:07

life into Tazara. And

49:10

this came in response to some talk going

49:12

on about another railway link

49:14

under discussion with an American-led

49:16

consortium. The competition never ends.

49:19

Well, as long as the Africans make out

49:21

all right, it's really what's most important in

49:23

the end. Moelimo Julius

49:25

Nerere served five terms as president between 1960

49:28

and 1985. He was described as modest and

49:30

incorruptible, a

49:35

sharp contrast to past African leaders.

49:38

He's considered the father of the

49:40

country, but also had to

49:42

own up to trampling on human

49:44

rights, wrecking the economy, and all

49:47

the negative fallout from Ujama. Julius

49:50

Nerere's embrace of certain aspects

49:52

of Maoism and applying them

49:54

to Tanzania didn't work. Parts

49:57

of the Tanzanian economy got ravaged

49:59

by. The plunge in agricultural

50:01

productivity followed by the inevitable

50:04

droughts and famines. Who.

50:06

Jama. Really? Damaged

50:08

Nerys legacy. Most of the policies

50:10

are all on done in the

50:13

years following his retirement. While.

50:15

A More Julius Nyerere He died

50:17

on October fourteenth, Nineteen Ninety Nine

50:19

of leukemia. The. Nineteen

50:22

Nineties. Was. A period

50:24

when China heralded it's return to

50:26

Africa. This. Time around the

50:28

left all the mile was slogans

50:31

and emphasis on Maoism and revolution

50:33

behind and focus more on what

50:35

was more pressing to the Tanzania

50:37

and people. Investment poured in and

50:40

factories were built that employed great

50:42

numbers of workers. And

50:44

just as world importers look to China

50:47

as a source of cheap labor to

50:49

produce low price consumer goods, the same

50:51

went with how Chinese manufacturers and mining

50:54

companies view the African labor market. This

50:56

expose China to a lot of pushback

50:58

and the same old misunderstandings of the

51:01

nineteen sixties were being made again in

51:03

the nineties. There's

51:05

no formal treaty that binds Tanzania

51:08

and the Prc, but. Over.

51:10

The years through all the twists

51:12

and turns of history they both

51:14

this relationship with it's. Shared.

51:16

Past history that binds them and a

51:18

certain way for some her may even

51:21

be a little bit on the soldier

51:23

for the malware or. Last

51:26

year, China's first political school opened

51:28

in Africa, the first one of

51:30

it's kind established by China's Communist

51:32

Party. This was in February.

51:35

Twenty Twenty Two. It's. Called them

51:37

While The Mood Julius New Rarely Leadership

51:39

School. The. Organization behind the school

51:41

is. China's. Central Party School,

51:43

the gym Young Tongue shelf. They.

51:46

arranged for the forty million dollar

51:48

grants to build and operate the

51:50

school in our instrumental in the

51:52

ideological training that's offered their the

51:54

school is located in cuba her

51:56

tanzania an hour west of dar

51:58

es salaam students receive lectures

52:01

and are taught the party line

52:03

the CCP way the students

52:05

learn all the

52:07

basics leadership recruitment

52:10

propaganda organization administration

52:12

mass mobilization party

52:14

discipline anti-corruption and

52:16

party governance the

52:19

school was established in cooperation

52:21

with the six ruling liberation

52:23

movements the six FLMSA the

52:26

former liberation movements of southern

52:29

africa Tanzania Mozambique

52:31

Namibia Angola South

52:34

Africa and Zambia and

52:37

anyone interested to learn more about the

52:39

nation of Tanzania or about East Africa

52:41

or Africa in general no it's not

52:43

like it used to be there are

52:46

a cornucopia of available resources out

52:49

there on platforms all over the

52:51

world where you could learn and

52:53

explore to your heart's content and

52:56

if China's engagement in Africa and the

52:59

global south interests you in any way

53:02

once again Eric Cobus Giro the

53:04

China global south podcast I'm a

53:06

paid subscriber to their newsletter and

53:08

this allows me to keep my

53:10

finger on that China Africa

53:12

pulse okay

53:14

until the next time may both on

53:17

me this is a la so Montgomery

53:19

signing off from Los Angeles California my

53:21

eternal thanks as always for listening and

53:23

I hope you'll come back next time

53:26

for another exciting episode of

53:29

the China history podcast