Southern Africa: China formally opens embassy in new ally Malawi

China on Saturday formally opened a new embassy in Malawi, after the poor southern African nation announced last week it was switching its diplomatic allegiance from Taipei to Beijing. "We have officially established diplomatic relations to serve the common aspirations of the people of the two countries," Zhai Ju, assistant foreign minister and special envoy to Chinese President Hu Jintao, said in a prepared speech obtained by AFP.