BRUSSELS, April 24 (Reuters) - Congo's president has told Belgium it must decide whether it wants normal ties or seeks a "master-slave" relationship with its ex-colony after a public row over human rights and Congo's dealings with China. The outburst by Joseph Kabila in Belgium's Le Soir newspaper is the latest episode in the two country's rocky relations since Congo's independence in 1960 and came after Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht raised a list of longstanding Belgian concerns during talks with Kabila in Kinshasa this week. "Every time a mission is led by the foreign minister, it is with lots of arrogance, as if our visitors were coming here to teach us some lessons," Le Soir quoted Kabila as saying on Thursday. Belgian foreign ministry officials said De Gucht, a straight-talking Fleming liberal, had raised a number of concerns in two meetings with Kabila earlier this week. ... They included Kabila's opposition to having a U.N. human rights rapporteur for his country, concerns over the slow pace of Congolese reforms aimed at tackling corruption, and infrastructure contracts recently signed with China. ... "The problem is not of course the fact that the contracts were signed with the Chinese, the aim is to ensure a maximum of transparency," a ministry spokesman said, noting concerns about whether the contracts were signed according to standards set out by international bodies.
BRUSSELS, April 24 (Reuters) - Congo's president has told Belgium it must decide whether it wants normal ties or seeks a "master-slave" relationship with its ex-colony after a public row over human rights and Congo's dealings with China.
The outburst by Joseph Kabila in Belgium's Le Soir newspaper is the latest episode in the two country's rocky relations since Congo's independence in 1960 and came after Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht raised a list of longstanding Belgian concerns during talks with Kabila in Kinshasa this week.
"Every time a mission is led by the foreign minister, it is with lots of arrogance, as if our visitors were coming here to teach us some lessons," Le Soir quoted Kabila as saying on Thursday.
Belgian foreign ministry officials said De Gucht, a straight-talking Fleming liberal, had raised a number of concerns in two meetings with Kabila earlier this week. ... They included Kabila's opposition to having a U.N. human rights rapporteur for his country, concerns over the slow pace of Congolese reforms aimed at tackling corruption, and infrastructure contracts recently signed with China. ... "The problem is not of course the fact that the contracts were signed with the Chinese, the aim is to ensure a maximum of transparency," a ministry spokesman said, noting concerns about whether the contracts were signed according to standards set out by international bodies.
