Special Report: Premier Wen visits 7 African countries
BEIJING, June 22 (Xinhua) -- With Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao's ongoing visit in Africa, the Tanzania-Zambia Railway is brought into
spotlight again as it symbolizes the lasting friendship between China and
Africa.
Construction of the 1,860-kilometer-long railway took
five years and seven months, and it was put into full operation in 1976.
Thousands of Chinese workers were sent there, 64 never returned.
"The voyage to China was so long that we couldn't
bring their bodies back, so we cremated them in Africa," recalls Jin Hui, 84,
former vice director of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway construction team.
Jin spent 18 years in Tanzania successively, working
on the "Railway of Friendship."
When then President of Tanzania Julius Nyerere
visited China in February 1965, he asked his hosts if they could help build a
railway to transport copper from neighboring Zambia, which boasted 15 percent of
world's copper output at that time.
Nyerere had previously been turned down by Britain,
Germany and the World Bank. Independent Tanzania and Zambia were still
surrounded by colonies, and they had no other route available, Jin says.
The Chinese granted his request. "Nations that gain
independence earlier are duty-bound to help those emancipated later," says Jin,
quoting late Chairman Mao Zedong, who went further to say that "we will build
the best railway for you."
China granted 988 million yuan of interest-free loan
to finance the railway. At the time, it was a huge sum as China's economy was in
stagnation during the Cultural Revolution.
Professionals from all over China were summoned to
"help our black brothers," Jin recalls. The railway was built so solidly that it
could withstand an earthquake of eight on the Richter scale.
The construction quality is confirmed by Helen L. Brahim, counselor with the Embassy of Tanzania to China. "In 1998 a flood occurred in Tanzania and many facilities were washed out, but the railway remained intact," she says.
