Tanzania Government denies ivory smuggled during President Xi Jinping state visit

Chinese President Xi Jinping with President Jakaya Kikwete during a state visit in Tanzania

Yesterday (Friday 7th of October 2014) Tanzania's Foreign Minister, Bernard Membe  denied the allegations by a campaign group known as Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) that Chinese officials smuggled out large amounts of illegal ivory during a state visit to Tanzania by President Xi Jinping in March 2013.

Membe rejected the report as "lies",  where as the report said members of Xi's large delegation of businessmen and officials had sent the ivory home in diplomatic bags on the presidential plane.  Like wise China has called the allegations "baseless".

"Claims that the Tanzanian government neither cares nor takes any action against ivory smugglers are false," Membe said in his speech while addresing the parliament.
he added that "The EIA report is fabricated... to tarnish the image of our country and our friend, the Chinese nation."

Bernard Membe acknowledged that Tanzania was among the world's major sources of smuggled ivory, but denied that the Tanzanian and Chinese governments were involved in the illegal trade. He questioned the timing of the allegations, a week after Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete made a reciprocal state visit to China.


"Those who are spreading this cooked up report are jealous of China's success. They want to be the only ones doing trade with China, getting loans from China and attracting investors from China," said Membe.

"Tanzania is a sovereign country, we will not be forced to choose our friends."

Tanzania and China signed investment deals worth more than $1.7 billion during Kikwete's visit to Beijing last month. The president said this week that China was his country's "all weather friend".

In recent years, Chinese companies have signed deals to build a $1.2 billion gas pipeline and a $3 billion coal and iron ore mine project in Tanzania.

Opposition leaders in the east African country called for an investigation into the allegations to be conducted by an international panel.

"If the reports are established to be false, action should be taken against those who made the allegations. But if the allegations are proven true, stern diplomatic measures should be taken against our Chinese friends," said opposition politician Zitto Kabwe.