People's Republic of China—Zaire relations
From Roach Busters
Zaire's relations with the People's Republic of China, like its relations with the Soviets, were initially hostile. Chinese support of Pierre Mulele and the Simbas remained firmly etched in Mobutu's memory, and for a time he refused to confer Beijing recognition. In 1972, he supported the United States in opposition to seating China in the United Nations. However, his stance later changed, as he began to view China as a counterweight to the Soviets. In November 1972, he recognized the government of China, and the following year, he visited Beijing, where he received promises of $100 million in aid. In spite of Mobutu's friendship with the United States, China chose to back Mobutu as a bulwark against Soviet expansionism on the African continent. The friendship between the two countries steadily strengthened. Mobutu's second visit to Bejing left a deep impression on him, and his rhetoric became decidedly more radical; some believe that it was this visit, and the impressions China's agricultural cooperatives left on him, that inspired his "radicalization of the revolution" and the beginning of salongo, the "voluntary labor" program where peasants were obliged to do agricultural work without pay for a certain number of hours each week.
Both sides found common cause in regards to the Angolan Civil War; both initially supported the FNLA (in spite of the FNLA's openly pro-Western, capitalist ideology, they were supported by China due to their opposition to the Soviet-backed MPLA), and later UNITA.
Mobutu continued to emphasize his close ties to China as a counterpart to his relationship with the U.S., apartheid South Africa, and Israel. When Angola-based rebels invaded in Shaba in 1977, China was one of the first countries to rally to Mobutu's aid, sending small arms, antiaircraft guns, and artillery, and accusing the Soviets and Cubans of destabilizing Central Africa.
Relations remained warm throughout the 1980s. In 1983, during Premier Zhao Ziyang's eleven nation African tour, announced that China was cancelling Kinshasa's $100 million debt. The money borrowed would be reinvested in joint Chinese-Zairian projects. China provided the Zairian military with equipment and training, and sent repairmen to fix inoperable Zairian vehicles. As Zaire's relations soured with the West beginning in the late 1980s, China assumed a more active role in the country, sending over 1,000 technicians to work on agricultural and forestry projects.
