{"id":50430,"date":"2024-04-11T11:06:11","date_gmt":"2024-04-11T11:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/amb-kimonyo-says-rwanda-can-t-be-bullied-to-take-sides-in-us-china-rivalry\/"},"modified":"2024-04-16T15:32:21","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T15:32:21","slug":"amb-kimonyo-says-rwanda-can-t-be-bullied-to-take-sides-in-us-china-rivalry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/amb-kimonyo-says-rwanda-can-t-be-bullied-to-take-sides-in-us-china-rivalry\/","title":{"rendered":"Amb. Kimonyo says Rwanda can\u2019t be bullied to take sides in US-China rivalry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Speaking during a recent interview with a Chinese news outlet, Kimonyo affirmed that both Washington and Beijing were crucial partners of Rwanda as it continues to rebuild itself after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, which left at least one million people dead and a trail of destruction of property.<\/p>\n

Besides its support for Rwanda, the envoy emphasized that China has been helpful to many other African economies. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States is our friend. In the same way, China is our friend,\u201d Kimonyo said, adding, \u201cWe can\u2019t be bullied, we can\u2019t be forced. We think China is a very good friend of ours, and nobody can tell us otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n

He defended China\u2019s investments in Africa \u2013 including those under its Belt and Road Initiative \u2013 and dismissed claims that Beijing has been using the projects as debt traps for developing economies as \u201cillogical\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we meet with China, we discuss these projects based on our national priorities \u2013 unless you want to assume that we\u2019re stupid, that we can\u2019t think and we can\u2019t set priorities for our countries,\u201d Kimonyo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cChina has never ever \u2013 even before I came to China, I know for a fact \u2013 come to a country and said I want to build you a road, I want to build this hospital, I want to do this project,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

He said that Rwanda’s infrastructure suffered extensive damage during the genocide and China had \u201cstayed on the forefront in terms of supporting Rwanda in [its] socio-economic transformation agenda\u201d and Beijing\u2019s investments had placed China \u201cat the centre of [Rwanda\u2019s] transformation\u201d.<\/p>\n

The ambassador, however, noted that there was room for more partnerships as President Paul Kagame\u2019s administration seeks to transform itself into a tech hub and middle-income country.<\/p>\n

Kimonyo, who served as Rwanda\u2019s ambassador to the US from 2007 to 2013, also noted that issues between major super powers should be addressed using well defined frameworks.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, we are very categorical and very clear that you cannot come to us \u2026 and force us to choose our friends,\u201d Kimonyo said. \u201cThat\u2019s our sovereign issue and we decide on our own destiny.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reacting to controversial issues pitting the two superpowers including China\u2019s alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang, the seasoned diplomat said \u201cthese are purely internal matters of China, period\u201d.<\/p>\n

He was speaking on the sidelines of an embassy event to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the same event on Sunday, Wu Peng, the Chinese foreign ministry\u2019s director general of African affairs, committed to strengthening Rwanda\u2019s deep ties with China.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to support Rwanda in following a development path compatible with its realities, further deepen bilateral relations and promote practical cooperation for greater benefits of our two peoples,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe the Chinese government wants, through FOCAC, to make our own contribution to peace in Africa to avoid this tragic genocide from happening again,\u201d Peng remarked while referring to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation which is set to hold its next iteration in Beijing later this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cChina always views and develops its relations with Africa from a strategic and long-term perspective. We will continue to stand firmly with our African brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Amb.<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{Rwanda\u2019s ambassador to China, James Kimonyo, says the East African country will not be \u201cbullied\u201d into taking sides in the superpower conflicts between the United States and China.}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":2000065646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[72,75],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-50430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured-news-home","tag-homenews","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000065646,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/f4ed4cb8-94db-4db0-a67a-50dfa5efa82f.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/f4ed4cb8-94db-4db0-a67a-50dfa5efa82f.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/f4ed4cb8-94db-4db0-a67a-50dfa5efa82f.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/f4ed4cb8-94db-4db0-a67a-50dfa5efa82f.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/f4ed4cb8-94db-4db0-a67a-50dfa5efa82f.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/f4ed4cb8-94db-4db0-a67a-50dfa5efa82f.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000065646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50430"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=50430"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=50430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}