China nationals ordered to obey Tanzania’s laws

The Chinese Embassy office accredited in the country has strictly ordered its nationals living and working in Tanzania to obey the country’s laws in their dwellings just like other foreigners. The Guardian has been informed. Liu Dong, Cultural Counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Dar es Salaam, made the plea during an exclusive interview on Thursday this week. The call by Chinese Embassy official has come amid widespread speculation that, some Chinese nationals working in the country have been breaching the country’s laws and tend to engage with illegal business activities, a factor that most Tanzanians have lost trust with them. Two weeks ago, a Chinese national Engineer Yu Bo (45) was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment or pay a fine of Sh. 9bn/- by the Kisutu Magistrate Court in Dar es Salaam after having pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful possession of government trophies worth 978,120,490/-. The verdict was ruled by Resident Magistrate, Devotha Kisoka under the Economic and Organised Crime Control Act. Commenting on the decision passed by court, Liu Dong noted that, Chinese government is happy with the judgment and has no any comments. However, he said adding that, one way to honour the existing bilateral relationships between China and Tanzania is strict observance of the country’s laws and not otherwise. In light of the 50 years anniversary of the cooperation between Tanzania and China, Liu Dong has expressed the Chinese desire to continue helping Tanzania in every sector development with a view to promote national economy. He said there are a lot of activities to be performed in relation to the existing cooperation among the two countries Among the strategies in place is a live broadcast by a Chinese owned CCTV Television for Serengeti national park, adding that the motive behind is to promote tourism sector in the country. Other activities include the promotion of martial arts and climbing of Mount Kilimanjaro by experts from China and this would be done in collaboration with Tanzania counterparts. There would be an exhibition to promote cartoonist and photo exhibitions that would highlight value agricultural activities which were being promoted under socialism policies of the two countries during the reigns of Mao Tse Tung and Mwalimu Julius Nyerere. In addition to that, Liu Dong noted that, the Chinese government will in this year start sponsoring students for Masters and PhD Degree program studies in the field of Science and Technology and about 200 Tanzanian students would benefit yearly. Two weeks ago, Chinese Ambassador accredited in the country Lu Youging was quoted as saying, “his government has pledged to collaborate with Tanzania government to curb the increased rate of poaching in national parks in the country”. To facilitate the move, China has donated two machines to be used for screening and scanning of containers at Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar ports respectively. He said that, poaching has become a problem in many African countries and China will continue support Tanzania in the fight. Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation John Haule has said that, about 15 Tanzanians earlier convicted of death sentences for allegedly found in possession of illegal illicit drugs in China, will now serve life sentences in jail. He told a press conference on Tuesday this week in Dar es Salaam when explaining the successes of the Chinese President who visited Tanzania last year, adding that, the parole is due to the good diplomatic relations which has been existing between the two countries for about 50 years in areas of social, political, economical, security as well as defense. “Due to this long standing diplomatic relations of the two countries, Tanzanian inmates who had been sentenced to death in relation to illegal possession of illicit drugs, will now serve life sentences” he said.