State press recalls the great friendship between China and Cuba, even if in the past the two were on opposite sides of the battle between China and the USSR for the world communist leadership.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – State media is full of praise and historic photographs of the Lider maximo, Fidel Castro, the day after his official announcement that he will leave the presidency after almost 50 years of absolute power.

Spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Liu Jianchao has declared “Chairman Castro is a revolutionary leader deeply loved by the Cuban people. He is also an old friend of the Chinese people”.

In real terms, China and Cuba were sworn enemies during the China-Soviet crises, when Castro threw his support behind the USSR.  Relations between Beijing and Havana only improved after the collapse of the Soviet empire, in ’91.  Having lost economic subsidies from Moscow, Castro sought aid from Beijing in an attempt to save the island from economic ruin.

Castro also visited China in 1995 and again in 2003, displaying an interest in “Chinese style socialism”, in short capitalist leanings and a greater openness to the modernisation of special economic zones.  Annals show his wonder at the development of Shenzhen, the city with the highest earnings in the nation.  Castro had declared his intention to activate the same type of economic reforms in his country.

In 2004 Hu Jintao visited Cuba, as part of a financial aid package to the impoverished Cuban revolution, bringing with him generous loans and investments amounting to 500 million dollars for the creation of a nickel plant in Moa (Holguin province). His predecessor Hu, Jiang Zemin, had also paid two state visits to Cuba.

While the People’s Daily has dedicated an album of photo’s to Castro, charting the early stages of the revolutionary right up to his recent illness, the Foreign Ministry website proclaims that “China and Cuba are friendly nations. The Chinese side will continue to consolidate and develop Sino-Cuban friendly and co-operative relations”.

Trade between China and Cuba rose to 1.8 million dollars in 2006- Beijing exports buses, trains, agricultural machinery and other consumer products.  Cuba repays with sugarcane exports.

Some analysts affirm that China used Cuba’s good offices to obtain contacts with countries once allied to the USSR, to further the reach of the Chinese economy.  “Castro exported the revolution to Africa, today China exports ‘made in China’ to Africa and Latin America” said one professor of economic at Beijing University.

Both nations are united by their violent oppression of human rights and religious freedom.

 

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