Shi Ting Wang,exchanging pleasantries with the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye
THE Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Shi Ting Wang, has called on the Ghanaian authorities to help address what he said were the fraudulent means by which Ghanaians want to enter into China.
Mr. Shi said Ghana, with a population of 27 million people outweighed the number of people who apply for Chinese visa in Nigeria, a country with more than 160 million people.
“We receive documents on visa application every day. Many of these documents are forged. They forge bank statements, they forged invitation letters and others.
So we have a lot of challenges,” Mr. Shi revealed.
He was responding to a request by the Majority and Minority Leaders for better treatment for Ghanaian visa applicants when he paid a courtesy call on the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye in Accra yesterday.
According to the leaders, Ghanaians wanting to make it into the Asian country have been given a raw deal as they are made to form long queues in the sun.
They contended that the visa seeking Ghanaian citizens normally go to China for trade and not to relocate to that country.
But Mr. Shi said the Chinese Embassy has been amenable to Ghanaians who want to go to China either for trade, education or tourism.
This, he said, was evident by the large Ghanaian community in the Asian super power.
He, however, called on the Ghanaian authorities to assist in stamping out fraudulent visa applicants.
The Speaker of Parliament said there was the need for both sides to sit together to find a way forward whiles deepening the partnership that existed between the two countries for the common good of both parties.
He encouraged his Chinese guest to woo more investments to Ghana since Ghana had become the toast for investors on the continent.
He said Ghana was open to Public Private Partnerships, the norm in the business world, for the benefit of both sides.
The Minority Leader, HarunaIddrisu, reechoed Ghana’s commitment to a win-win relationship with China for the good of the citizens of the two countries.
He was appreciative of China’s contribution to Ghana’s infrastructural drive which included the construction of the Bui Dam, the Atuabo Gas Plant and roads among other interventions which were helping the country bridge the infrastructural gap.
Mr. OseiKyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader, said Ghana was open to expanding the frontiers of collaboration with China especially in the area of trade and commerce.
Responding to the visa application claims, the Suame lawmaker said the state players would look into the matter but stressed the need for the Chinese Embassy in Ghana to facilitate the issuance of visas to save the applicants the stress they go through to secure Chinese visas.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
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