China welcomes Cambodian and Zambian leaders as it forges deeper ties with Global South
The leaders of China and Zambia have announced an upgrading of their ties as the world’s second-largest economy forges deeper ties with the Global South
BEIJING — China and Zambia upgraded their relationship to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership on Friday, the latest move by America's chief global rival to forge deeper ties with the Global South.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Zambian counterpart announced the agreement shortly after Xi had exchanged cordial words with another visitor, the new prime minister of Cambodia. The flurry of diplomatic activity came just two days after Venezuela's president met Xi and the two elevated their countries' ties to an “all-weather” partnership.
The trio of leaders from Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America speak to China’s growing role in those parts of the world and China's ambitions to be a global leader. Facing growing pressure from the U.S. and its partners, which fear China's rise could disrupt the existing international order, the world's second largest economy is trying to project itself as a powerful nation standing up for the interests of the Global South.
The collective rise of developing countries has become “an irreversible trend of the times,” Xi told Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Hichilema responded: «We appreciate your role in positively altering the global order so that the Global South can take our rightful place in the league of nations.”
The “all-weather” partnership Xi concluded this week with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is an even closer relationship than Zambia's. It's one that China has granted to only a handful nations and signals they will maintain close relations no matter what
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