Fifty African experts (University Professors, Research Institute Directors, Think Tank Presidents, etc.) took part in the seminar on Chinese-style modernization and African development, held from July 17 to 24, 2024, in China’s Shaanxi Province. Upon returning home, some of them agreed to answer our “Three Questions to the Xi’an Seminar Participants.” Today, we're with the representative of South Sudan, Mr John Monyjok Maluth.
Hello Mr John Monyjok Maluth, you are the South Sudan representative at the Xi'an seminar on ‘Chinese-style modernisation and African development’. Introduce yourself and tell us what your impressions are after this major meeting to implement the six main objectives and ten Actions of the strategic partnership between China and Africa? I'm John Monyjok Maluth, CEO of the Panmal Foundation, from the Republic of South Sudan. My impressions from the seminar are that the Chinese style of modernization is not Westernization, thus, as South Sudanese, and as Africans, we too should modernize in our own cultures and contexts, which is why during and after the seminar, I've been writing articles about democracy in our own terms. Chinese culture, seen in everything, including street lights and food, impressed me as well. We too in South Sudan are rich in culture, but we have been made (or we made ourselves) to believe that all this is backward and primitive, which is not true.
What proposals do you have for Sino-African cooperation that is closer to the people, as seen from South Sudan? My proposal is that we should create policies that work for us, not just copy-paste things that don't work, whether for government, companies, or community initiatives. This is why I came back from Xi'an with a vision to register my own company to help me reach the youth with these new ideas.
What do you think of the Xi'an Reflection Group's initiative to follow up the Xi'an seminar? The Xi'an Group is a great idea to keep us connected and work together within our African context.
Interview by Héribert-Label Élisée ADJOVI / Special envoy to Xi'an