China increases cultural presence in Cape Verde

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (r) meets with Cape Verde’s Foreign Minister Jorge Tolentino in Beijing

The Confucius Institute will have a delegation at the University of Cape Verde and China will open a cultural centre in the archipelago in 2016, Cape Verde’s Foreign Minister, Jorge Tolentino, said this week in Beijing.
The Confucius Institute, an organization created ten years ago by the Chinese government to promote Chinese language and culture abroad, already has an office in Maputo, Mozambique and is due to open one in Luanda, Angola soon.
Tolentino confirmed that the Cape Verdean Coast Guard in February will receive two Chinese vessels for “maritime patrol” and “operations to prevent and control illegal activities,” including illegal fishing and drug trafficking.
As for the future of Sino-Cape Verdean cooperation, Tolentino highlighted the so-called “sea grouping” a sector that ranges from education to shipbuilding, through fisheries and oceanography research.
“We want a strong partnership with China in this field. We have the greatest understanding in this subject and we are now at the stage of translating that into action,” he told Portuguese news agency Lusa.
At the end of two days of political contacts in Beijing, Tolentino said Cabo-Verde China relations were excellent and noted the government’s assessment of bilateral cooperation “is the best.”
In addition to his counterpart, Wang Yi, Tolentino met with Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao.
Yesterday the Cape Verdean minister visited the island of Hainan and then Macau, the last leg of a one-week visit to China.  MDT/Macauhub