China Safari: On the Trail of Beijing's Expansion in Africa

Abstract

China Safari: On the Trail of Beijing's Expansion in Africa Serge Michel and Michel Beuret Nation Books, 2009 With an increasing population and a parallel need for resources, the expansion of human groups from their home territory into alien territory has been an inevitable historical process. Africa, with its abundant mineral deposits, has historically been a focus for European expansion, but the emergence of the post-World War II anti-colonial movement lead to decolonization. More recently, the Chinese have moved into the vacuum, staking claims to natural resources not by force of arms but with money. Like previous colonialists, the Chinese both built from scratch and improved existing transportation infrastructure in order to make exporting to the home country more efficient. Growing African resentment of Chinese colonialism has led to killings and kidnappings but has not escalated to the level of anti- European violence seen during the 1960s and 1970s. It remains to be seen whether the Chinese, whose official pronouncements pro-egalitarian, eventually exit Africa due to shame, or, heeding their own racial survival above all, entrench themselves as a permanent presence. French journalists Michel and Beuret present a close but meandering account of the new colonial masters of Africa. The authors' disdain for France's own colonial experience underlies their narration, and they express politically correct reasons as to why the continent continues to be an international socio-economic and political basket-case: foreign exploitation motivated solely by self-enrichment and racism. The focus on profits, it is claimed, encourages graft and empowers the numerous African dictatorships, forestalling the development of democracy. Western governments condition offers of aid with social, economic and political reforms and Western businesses obligingly follow their respective governments' embargoes. Since the Chinese government and Chinese businesses not at all concerned with niceties such as democratic reform, the African elites eagerly accept Chinese aid. A further distinction between the West and the Chinese is that the Chinese are hard at work, whereas the West wastes its time lecturing [Africans] on democracy, human rights and accountability. The scale of Chinese investments and infrastructure construction projects is impressive - 10 billion euros in aid was sent to Sudan alone, thus enabling the Chinese to win the raw materials they want. By contrast, the U.S. sent about $6.6 billion to all of Africa (fiscal year 2009).1 A chart at the end of the book illustrates the scale of investments and indicates that China is earnest about being in Africa for the long-term. Although China's large financial presence in Sudan suggests that they have leverage over Khartoum, the Chinese have pointedly not taken up the issue of the conflict in Darfur. Prodding by the West (and shrill denunciations by U.S. film actors) has not moved China to involve itself in a civil war, although China has agreed to send military and police personnel as part of a U.N.-supervised force.2 In addition to the official presence, the Chinese government has been encouraging its citizens to move to Africa and, with funds provided by the state bank, exploit business opportunities. Thousands of Chinese have started small businesses selling inexpensive, Chinese-made consumer goods, like big-box stores in the U.S. A few of these small businesses have gradually morphed into multi-million dollar enterprises. As with other minorities in Africa, such as the Indians in East Africa and the Lebanese in West Africa, the Chinese have rapidly adapted to local market conditions to dominate the economy. Also similar to other European and Asian minorities in Africa, the success of these Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs has evoked the enmity of the locals, which occasionally erupts into violence. The fact that foreign, non-European minorities currently dominate most African economies suggests that previous European colonial successes were not dependent on racism or oppression. …