CHINESE FOOTPRINT DEEPENS IN BENIN

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 COTONOU 000192 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/W DBANKS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/04/2018 TAGS: PREL EAID ETRD PINR EINV CH BN SUBJECT: CHINESE FOOTPRINT DEEPENS IN BENIN REF: A. 07 COTONOU 0871 ¶B. 07 COTONOU 0776 ¶C. 06 COTONOU 918 Classified By: Ambassador Gayleatha B. Brown for reasons 1.4 b and d. ¶1. (C) Summary: Chinese Ambassador to Benin Li Beifen, whose husband has joined her at post for the past few months, told the Ambassador on March 22 that she ends her tour in Benin in April 2008 and will be replaced by China's current ambassador in the Seychelles. China/Benin relations expanded greatly during her tenure and included major infrastructure development, including construction of a new Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) building, a Conference Center, hospitals, and roads, although the terms of Chinese assistance remain largely secret. Plagued by malaria attacks in Benin, she welcomes her next post as China's Ambassador to Tunisia. Per Li Beifen, Beijing had yet to announce the ambassadorial changes. End Summary. ¶2. (C) According to the Peoples' Republic of China's (PRC) Ambassador to Benin Li Beifen, she ends her three and a half year-tour in Benin sometime in April 2008, en route to Tunisia, her next ambassadorial post. Li Beifen told the Ambassador at a March 22, 2008 dinner hosted by their French counterpart that China and Benin have deepened their cooperation during her tenure, although ties date back 36 years to resumption of diplomatic relations under former President Kerekou's Marxist regime (Refs B&C). Unusually loquacious, she chatted at length with the Ambassador about the PRC's interest in Benin and Africa generally. ¶3. (C) In addition to construction of the Palais de Congres Conference Center and the new Foreign Affairs Ministry building in Cotonou, Li Beifen noted several other major construction projects at various stages of progress in Benin including: hospitals in Parakou and Lokassa and a large road overpass between Cotonou and Allada. The latter, she affirmed, would cost more to construct than the large conference center given the need to fortify the foundation in water-saturated soil. Another source said that China's support for modernization of Benin's agricultural sector would address its need to supply food for China's burgeoning population and as a source of raw cotton for its textile industry. ¶4. (C) Both the Chinese Ambassador and GOB officials are largely silent about the terms of Chinese-financed projects in Benin. Not even the IMF here knows the full impact of Chinese assistance on the GOB budget. Li Beifen hedged in her response to the Ambassador on this issue, stating that the Chinese terms are both grants and low concessional loans, which are often forgiven. She bemoaned the general perception that China only seeks access to African sources of primary raw materials, contending that Benin has "nothing." (Note: Li Beifen did not mention President Yayi's invitation, extended during his 2006 official visit to Beijing, for China to explore offshore for oil. The joint communique from that visit affirmed the two countries' commitment to increasing cooperation in infrastructure, telecommunications, and energy. End note (Ref C)). She declared that China supports Benin's development efforts and admires its strides toward democracy. Li Beifen also decried China's "bad press" in the West about its role in Sudan, where she contends that China was instrumental in obtaining GOS acceptance of AU peacekeepers, a point she had made at her February 5 Chinese New Year dinner in a conversation with the Ambassador. ¶5. (C) On March 22, Li Beifen bemoaned an inefficient bureaucracy that hampers China's ability to move expeditiously on its projects in Benin. She vented her frustration with President Yayi's management style, which centralized all decisions in the Presidency. For example, the MFA construction project has been completed for some time, but GOB delay in processing the hand-over has its inauguration on hold. She thinks highly of President Yayi as an honest but naive leader and noted his tendency to sideline all of the opposition, which contributed in part to the current hostility between Yayi and former President and current Cotonou Mayor Nicephore Soglo. (Note: Soglo attacked Yayi as a dictator akin to former Togolese President Eyadema at his worst in a RFI radio interview the week of March 20. COTONOU 00000192 002 OF 002 End note.) Li Beifen also expressed great admiration for the ability and character of Minister of State for Development Koupaki and regretted his apparent sidelining by Yayi (Ref A),a view widely shared in the diplomatic community in Benin. ¶6. (C) Li Beifen noted the Ambassador's "frequent" visits (covered by the local media) to the Presidency to meet with Yayi, observed that US/Benin relations appeared to be strong, and inquired about the outcome of the February 16 POTUS visit. The Ambassador replied that US/Benin relations were excellent and that the POTUS had advanced several major US objectives in Benin. ¶7. (C) Having been plagued by several bouts of malaria during her tenure in Benin, Li Beifen welcomed her upcoming posting to a malaria-free zone and temperate climate. She told the Ambassador that her replacement would be the current Chinese Ambassador in the Seychelles, although neither her departure nor replacement has been announced. She was critical of the poor medical care system in Benin, where one Chinese doctor with a fever died within three days of contracting the disease, due to late treatment for malaria. Instead of well-known western medicine, the Chinese use traditional plant therapy (also sold on the market in Benin),which she said was effective if malaria was diagnosed in time. (Note: The Ambassador may have been referring to "Artesunate" products such as Arsumax. It is a plant-based, anti-malarial medication (also produced in the West),considered to be a cheaper and effective alternative to anti-malarial medications commonly prescribed. End note.) ¶8. (C) Comment: Perhaps coincidentally, Li Beifen's increasing openness to the Mission coincided before and after with the POTUS visit - as manifested by her overtures to the Ambassador and an out-of-order direct request to the USAID Mission Director for a briefing on the POTUS visit. Her February 6, 2008 invitation to the Ambassador to celebrate the February 7 Chinese New Year was the first for a sit down dinner at Li Beifen's residence since the Ambassador's early September 2006 arrival at post. Li Beifen had sat the Ambassador to her left and the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps (Russian Ambassador Vladimir Timochencko who retires soon) to her right. At the March 22 French Ambassador's dinner, she encouraged the Ambassador to visit the Chinese Cultural Center to view an "extraordinary" photo exhibit of impressionism. Paving the way for her replacement, in any case, the Chinese footprint in Benin is deepening. ¶9. (U) Trade/Aid: In 2007, China's cooperation with Benin covered health (medical equipment and hospital construction), agriculture (modernization),large construction projects (official buildings, roads),and education (scholarships to Beninese students). China is a major trading partner for Benin. China exported to Benin goods totaling FCFA 44,659,138 (USD 106,322,357) in 2006 (the most recent figure available),a 7% increase from 2005. Chinese imports from Benin totaled FCFA 28,026,222,751 (USD 66,729,101) in 2006 a 2% decrease from 2005. In comparison, France's exports to Benin in 2006 amounted to USD 215.1 million with imports of USD 9.2 million. U.S. exports to Benin in 2006 were USD 155.5 million (a 60% increase from 2005 exports) with imports of USD 0.6 million. ¶10. (S/NF) Bio note on Li Beifen's husband, Wu Yungching (aka Wu Yongquing): Mr. Wu Yungching joined his wife in Cotonou at least three months ago and regularly has accompanied her to diplomatic affairs, including the Mayor of Cotonou's new year concert, national day receptions, and receptions and dinners. He is friendly in a guarded way and restricts his conversation in French to safe subjects such as China's cultural attractions. BROWN