China in My Eyes

How I became a fan of China

Between 1958 and 1964 the Maltese Labour Movement， led by Dom Mintoff， kept Britain under constant pressure to close its military bases and give Malta true independence. After all Malta was the last colony in Europe.

In the turbulent sixties， as an activist in the youth section of the Malta Labour Party， I was gripped by a holy zeal to help Malta get rid of the British and the NATO military bases and see my country become truly independent.

In 1969， as a Parliamentary reporter for the daily workers paper I was on my way to the press box， when Dom Mintoff， the leader of the Opposition， stopped me.

“Young man， I hear you are a fan of the Soviet Union，” said he， “You must look towards China.”

That was the first time I realized that China was a friend of Malta.

In June 1971， Dom Mintoff won the general election and became prime minister. Hundreds of journalists from all over the world were coming to Malta because the Island under the maverick Mintoff， became a hot story.

China and Africa

One of these was Richard Gibson， an Afro-American journalist and writer， who had just written a book The Liberation Movement of Africa.

As one of the leaders of the Young Socialist Movement in Malta， he interviewed me for his magazine. We became instant friends and have kept in touch to this day.

What he told me cemented my admiration for China. He had just came from Zambia and Zanzibar (later to become Tanzania) where thousands ofChineseworkers were working day and night to complete a railway system to enable these newly independentAfrican states to by-pass South Africa and therebywrestleitself from the grip ofthe cruel and ruthless Apartheid system.

Mintoff and China

In March l972， Mintoff signed a new agreement with Britain and Nato， recognizing that in seven years time they have to close their bases and leave Malta for good.Barely had the ink on this agreement dried， when Mintoff headed for China. He visited China soon after U.S. President Richard Nixon. He was the first Western European prime minister to visit China. Malta immediately recognized China.The Chinese gave Dom Mintoff and the Maltese delegation a great welcome.

China not only gave Malta a large loan without interest but sent hundreds of Chinese workers and engineers to build Malta’s two largest construction projects， the Red China Dock and the Marsaxlokk Port Project. I shall never forget what China did for Malta. China was poor at that time but from the little it had， it helped Malta to wrestle itself out the economic dominance of the West.

Bitter hatred was being fomented against the Chinese people by the right wing press.

It was then that I decided to set up the Malta China Friendship Society. I wanted to show the Maltese people that the Chinese people were a kind and hardworking people， dedicated to peace.

China Today

Since the seventies I have visited China 27 times. The most memorable visit was in l979 when Prime Minister of Malta Dom Mintoff assigned me to present the highest honour of Malta (The Medal of the Republic) to the widow of a Chinese late engineer Xu Huizhong， who was accidentally killed while working in Malta ontheRed China Dock， the largest dry-dockin the Mediterranean.In a moving ceremony I presented the medal to his widow Yu Jin’e.

Since 1978， under the reformist leader Deng Xiaoping， China created a market economy and opened it to massive foreign direct investment.

Since then I have visited China every year. The changes I have seen with my own eyes are beyond description. In a world gripped by the worst economic recession since the 1930s， China’s economy still registered a massive 9 per cent growth.

Chinese thinkers， predict， and I agree， that in a few decades China’s economy will become the most sizeable and powerful economy in the world， surpassing that of the United States. This in my view will have profound economic， cultural and political consequences.

What strikes me is that China is destined to become a global player without causingthe terrible sufferings the Europeans causedto hundreds of millionsof people when theycolonized Africa and Asiaand exploited their wealth and resources. Unlike the United States who accumulated enormous wealth and power on the blood of the millions of African slaves， China is expanding and gaining economic strength without waging war or attacking other nations.

The author is chairman of the Malta China Friendship Society.