China in Africa: Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing or Friend Indeed?
China’s role in Africa will continue to grow in the coming decades. There are many reasons for this, not the least of which is China’s voracious appetite and need for oil. But the Chinese have shown little interest in issues related to human rights, which they always shrug off as being a matter of internal politics and thus no within their ambit, since the Chinese profess to value national sovereignty above all. (For a collection of posts on China and Africa over at dcat see here.)
It is almost impossible to tell whether China’s influence on Africa will be to the continent’s benefit or its detriment. Despite the fact that China clearly wants greater enagement with Africa than any other global power there is a certain level of asymmetry involved that is worrisome, and the Chinese disregard for human rights concerns indicates that Africa’s Big Men will be able to lean on Chinese support without having to undergo even a pretense of reform. Chinese support will thus prop us despots while milking the continent of resources and increasing dependence on a powerful and rich foreign state. These hardly are the ideal conditions for development.
August 2nd, 2007 at 12:31 pm
[…] The sometimes problematic nature of China’s relationship with Africa is nowhere more stark than in Beijing’s engagement with Sudan (see also here, here, here, here, and here). Over at The New Republic Eric Reeves, one of the foremost authorities on the crisis in Darfur, has a piece telling us to be wary of China’s support for UN Resolution 1769, in which the United Nations Security Council authorized a joint UN-African Union (AU) force to intervene in Darfur. Although China did vote to support the resolution this year (last year they abstained so as not to breach Khartoum’s sovereignty, or so they would have had you believe) Reeves would not be so fast to heap praise on Beijing for coming around: “Winning China’s support came at a significant price. Khartoum’s staunchest ally voted for the resolution only after it had helped to secure the elimination of key provisions.” Reeves also shows that there is blame enough to go around among Western powers and not just China. […]