Ｇｈａｎａ’ｓ Ａｓｈａｎｔｉ Ｋｉｎｇ Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ｃｈｉｎａ

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II， king of Ghana’s Ashanti people， made a friendly visit to Beijing， Xi’an and Shanghai from October 16 to 25， 2006 at the invitation of the CPAFFC. The 30-member entourage included paramount chiefs， chiefs， a princess， a prince， aides to the royal family and business people.

Abdul’ahat Abdulrixit， vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference， Chen Haosu， president of the CPAFFC， Zhao Zhengyong， executive deputy governor of Shaanxi Province， and Zhou Muyao， vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress and president of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries， met with the King and his entourage.

The visit to China by King Tutu II aimed at further consolidating the traditional friendship between the people of Ghana and China and strengthening nongovernmental friendly relations， while studying China’s successful experience in reform and opening up for promoting the development of the Ashanti region. He termed this visit a tour of education， culture and trade.

Tour of Education

King Tutu II’s first stop in China was Beijing， where he materialized his tour of education. He visited the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) and the China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU).

King Tutu II became chancellor of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) of Ghana in 2006. Situated in Kumasi， capital of the Ashanti Kingdom， the University is the oldest and largest university of science and technology in Ghana as well as in western Africa. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan， the present vice president and several ministers of Ghana are graduates of this university. The University now has 6 colleges with 21，000 students.

Accompanied by BIT President Kuang Jingming， the King visited the Beijing Institute of Technology and had a discussion with major leaders of the Institute. Nana Otuo Siriboe II， deputy head of the delegation and council chairman of KNUST， signed a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of friendly and cooperative relations between the two universities with BIT President Kuang Jingming.

At the CFAU the King delivered a speech entitled “Traditional Leaders’ Influence and Role in Modern Society and Ghana-China Relations”. He said， traditional leaders play a complementary role not only in passing on the national culture and values， but also in settling civil disputes and safeguarding the right and interests of the local people. Just as what the Chinese often say， friendship among the peoples is not affected by the change of government. It is deep-rooted in the hearts of the people and can be passed on from generation to generation. So is the role of traditional leaders. On Ghana-China relations， the King recalled with profound feelings the visit Premier Zhou Enlai made to Ghana in 1964. He held that Ghana-China friendship has grown under the care of the older generation of leaders such as President Kwame Nkrumah， Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai. He expressed the hope that the traditional friendship between Ghana and China would bring about vigorous bilateral exchanges and cooperation in the economic， trade and cultural fields to benefit the two peoples. He reiterated on several occasions that the Ghanaian people support the “one-China” stance held by the Ghanaian government.

Tour of Culture

Located in the mid-southern Ghana， Ashanti used to be a most powerful state in western Africa and its capital Kumasi is a famous historical city. The Ashantis had had national consciousness before the invasion of the West. The British met with fierce resistance put up by the Ashantis in establishing the Gold Coast colony. The British sent the Ashanti King into exile in the Seychelles in 1902， but the colonialists soon found out that it was more difficult to control the Ashantis without the Ashanti King. So in 1924 they allowed the Ashanti King to return home and in 1938 held the ceremony to reinstate the Ashanti Kingdom and restored the Ashanti Confederacy. The Ashanti King still enjoys high prestige in Ghana today. Otumfuo Osei Tutu II succeeded to the throne in 1999. He holds honorary doctorate of five universities including the University of Ghana and the University of Glasgow. He is referred among his people as “King Solomon”. The present Ghanaian President John Agyekum Kufour is also an Ashanti.

Admiring the unique place Shaanxi Province occupies in the Chinese civilization， King Tutu II called his visit to Xi’an a tour of learning Chinese civilization and promoting Ghana-China cultural exchange. He visited the historical sites and relics in Xi’an—the terracotta warriors， the city wall and the Huaqingchi Park， and especially asked the CPAFFC to help arrange a Sino-Ghanaian traditional song and dance gala party. On the stage of a Xi’an theatre where Tang Dynasty music and dances are usually performed， his entourage performed a rhythmic and graceful Ashanti court dance with the accompaniment of lively Ashanti court music. In addition， the beautiful national costumes of King Tutu II and his chiefs brought cheers from the audience. Afare Apeadu Donkor， Ghanaian ambassador to China said， the King expressed his respect for the Chinese civilization and his gratitude for the warm hospitality of the Chinese people in his unique way.

At his meeting with Executive Deputy Governor Zhao Zhengyong， King Tutu II said， both Shaanxi Province and Ashanti Province are places of ancient civilization; and he hoped that the two would establish friendship-province relations on the basis of enhancing cultural exchange and agricultural cooperation.

Tour of Trade

King Tutu II holds that the development of education and culture should be supported by economic strength. Therefore， during his visit to Shanghai he focused on learning the experience of Shanghai’s economic development and promoting Ghana-China economic and trade cooperation. He brought with him on the visit over 20 chiefs and business representatives engaging in finance， construction， cocoa sale， gold mining and tourism. During their stay in Shanghai， the King and his entourage went to the Shanghai Small Enterprise Production Development Service Centre and had business talks with Shanghai’s small and medium-sized enterprises， which had shown great interest in investing in Ghana. Over 30 enterprises including Shanghai Construction Group and Shanghai Electric Group Co.， Ltd. participated in the business talks. They hoped to make investments in Ghana and expand their businesses’ influence in western Africa.

Ghana is also a tourist resort. The Shanghai CYTS Tours Corporation that took part in the business talks hoped to serve as a bridge between the two places so as to let the people of Shanghai experience the local customs and enjoy the landscape of western Africa.