Dear Editor,
I refer to the editorial “Fuzhou in Georgetown” in the Stabroek News November 20, 2016 edition. Apparently the editorial targets Georgetown City Government’s decision-making, yet the reputation of Chinese Embassy is collaterally damaged by the comments, which compels me to respond with the following points.
Firstly, any person with a little knowledge about the history of Guyana understands that as early as 1853, the Chinese immigrants were admitted on the land of Guyana. Since then Chinese have become one of the six ethnicities of Guyanese. Although the Chinese population in Guyana has dwindled over the years, Chinese are not strangers on this land. Many of those early Chinese immigrants called “Fuzhou” their home, a “foreign name” to the editor. Dear editor, if you don’t have a problem with many place names in Georgetown, such as “Delhi Street” or “Mandela Avenue”, why you are so bothered by “Fuzhou Street”? Are you in ignorance of your country’s history, or in discrimination against one of your ethnics?
Secondly, one of Chinese Embassy’s policies is to encourage and support the friendly exchanges between China and Guyana, at national, as well as local and grassroots levels. The sister city relationship between Georgetown and Fuzhou, now a capital city of Fujian Province in south-east China, forged years ago, is such an example. Through this relationship the two sides have had the opportunities to enhance mutual understanding, share their development experiences, and provide assistance to each other within its capacity when necessary. This kind of south-south cooperation relationship model benefits both parties. So what are your grounds for the attack?
Third, dear editor, when you judge the building of the Chinese Embassy as “supremely ugly”, you know nothing about what ugly means and are barking up the wrong tree. The ugly thing is not the building. It is the small, unnamed street full of stinky mud, rampant mosquitoes and the thick bushes on the one side of Embassy compound before it was adopted as Fuzhou Street. Now part of it has been cleaned and beautified under the funding from the Embassy. For we believe this is good for the environment of our residency, as well as for the whole neighbourhood and community. In consultation with the city Government and along with other stakeholders, we will continue our efforts to help complete the beautification work of the remaining part of this street.
Sincerely,
Yang Chenqi
Counsellor and
Deputy Chief of
Mission,
Chinese Embassy
