Imagine a group of hooligans and gangsters standing in front of the Chinese Embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the situation on the verge of chaos. This was 1994, when large-scale armed robberies swept Kinshasa, the capital of Zaire (which would later become the DRC). Many embassies became victims of the sweep.

"You cannot rob the Chinese people!" shouted the embassy's gatekeeper – a 50-year-old Congolese man – with the diplomatic compound behind him.

"These Chinese have assisted us in so many projects," the man said firmly. "You cannot even find an 80,000-seat stadium in China, but they have helped us to build Kinshasa Stadium. Africans should be conscientious people. If you want to rob them, it will be over my body!"

Eighteen years later, Sun Kunshan is still moved when he tells this story. "Thanks to that brave man," he says, "the Chinese embassy was one of a few embassies that remained unharmed by the robbers."

Sun assumed the position of Chinese ambassador to Kinshasa in 1998, four years after the incident. He's not a witness, but the story resonated with him nonetheless.

"It's a well-known story among Chinese diplomats in Africa," says the 72-year-old now former ambassador. He told ChinAfrica that after the gatekeeper retired, the Chinese appointed his son to succeed him in his post at the embassy. But Sun still feels regret: He's unsure about the old man's name, whether it's Boudou or Lauca.

African altruism

Over the span of his 15-year-long career as a diplomat in Africa, Sun has witnessed many stories similar to that of the gatekeeper, all of which exemplify a kind of life-and-death bond between Chinese and Africans.

One night in 1996, a Chinese employee of a factory established in the Republic of Togo with the support of the Chinese Government was seized with a sudden stomach illness, a condition that left him bleeding uncontrollably. Local health workers could not help, and inconvenient traffic made it impossible to drive the man to a hospital in the country's capital 300 miles away.

At the time, Sun was working in the Republic of Togo's Chinese Embassy. When he learned about the emergency situation, he made a call to a Togolese friend, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, then deputy chief of staff of Togo's army. Gnassingbe sent a military helicopter to carry the struggling patient to a military hospital. There, he had access to the best surgeon possible.

The surgery saved this man's life. Two months later, the man, who had believed he had no chance of seeing his family again, found himself returning to China. Waiting for his plane at the airport, he said to Sun, "I'm grateful the embassy saved my life!"

"It is Mr. Gnassingbe who saved your life," Sun replied. Later, the factory's staff sent their products to Gnassingbe as a gift to show gratitude for his actions.

Solid allies

The former ambassador believes that the Chinese-African friendship is precious, and grounded in sincerity and truth. "Many Africans told me that they view anyone against China as their own enemy," he says.

From 1973 to 1981, Sun worked at the Chinese Embassy in Benin. Just before his post ended, he received a phone call from local police. They were calling to inform him that they had caught people suspected of illegally immigrating into the country from Taiwan.

Sun, as the embassy's secretary at the time, was sent to deal with the issue. Once at the police station, he learned that all nine suspects were technicians from a Taiwan factory in Nigeria. Because their visas were about to expire, they had to leave and re-enter Nigeria in order to obtain a new visa. The most convenient way to do this was to walk west along the highway to Benin. But to their surprise, they ended up arrested by Beninese police.

In the 1980s, the Chinese mainland was at the beginning of reform and opening up, and its relationship with Taiwan was not as close as it may be today.

"People on both sides of Taiwan straits were almost irreconcilable at that time," recalls Sun. "Benin had a close friendship with China, so the local police assumed people from Taiwan to be hostile."

After Sun explained to the Beninese police that the nine people were just ordinary workers, not "enemies," they were finally released. Arrangements were made for them to leave the country accompanied by embassy staff.

"To be honest, when I was young, I never thought that my destiny would be related to Africa," Sun says. "My dream was to have a career in literature." Majoring in  French in university, Sun recalls, his passion for French literature was unparalleled. But a lifetime dedicated to Africa, he feels, was definitely worthwhile.

"Some African countries are still underdeveloped," he says. "African countries still need to be more united and more stable. However, Africa is rich in resources and has a huge market. Its future is full of promise."