The beat goes on around the world, even as election fever hogs the news here.
At a two-day conference this weekend, politicians in a multitude of poor African countries could smile about the coming boost to their respective economies. A world power has pledged massive development aid in loans promised to be “open, just, fair and transparent.” It will include the training of 15,000 professionals, construction of schools and hospitals, agricultural expertise, scholarships, export credits, and forgiveness of debt.
Of course, that beneficent world power must be our country, you say. Of course not. It’s China. Yessiree, the land of impoverished peasants gone industrial. The land of Tiananmen Square and internet censoring.
China’s state oil companies are expanding in Africa, signing deals in Nigeria, Angola, Sudan and elsewhere. Manufacturers are trying to expand exports to African markets….
“Chinese companies can become key players by investing in our development processes,” said President Paul Kagame of Rwanda.
The news caps a crescendo of commercial and political Chinese venturing. The Christian Science Monitor reported last year on increased Chinese activity, from road-building in Kenya and Rwanda to trade with Uganda and South Africa. Yellow flags are thrown down for China’s political influence, though, particularly in countries chafing under Western conditions of economic and political reform.
In Zimbabwe, where millions live on the verge of starvation under President Mugabe’s oppressive regime, Chinese businesses have been known to provide a radio-jamming device for a military base to prevent independent stations from balancing state-controlled media. They also began delivering 12 fighter jets and 100 trucks to Zimbabwe’s Army amid a Western arms embargo.
In Yale Global last year, Paul Mooney questioned whether China would use its world power responsibly.
Almost every African country today bears examples of China’s emerging presence, from oil fields in the east, to farms in the south, and mines in the center of the continent. According to a recent Reuters report, Chinese-run farms in Zambia supply the vegetables sold in Lusaka’s street markets, and Chinese companies – in addition to launching Nigerian satellites – have a virtual monopoly on the construction business in Botswana.
China, the second biggest consumer of oil behind the United States, has forged oil partnerships in Sudan, Chad, Nigeria, Angola and Gabon, and is exploring a potential collaboration in Kenya.
Thanks to China, Zimbabwe can flip the bird at reform.
After Americans and Europeans withdrew from the country due to the government’s destructive land reform program and poor human rights record, China stepped in, ready to work with the embattled, and resource-rich, African nation.
During his recent trip to Africa, Wu Bangguo, chairman of China’s legislature, spent four days in Zimbabwe, leading a delegation of 100 Chinese businessmen who inked joint venture deals in mining, transportation, communications and power generation.
In Sudan, too, China took the place of Western oil companies, helping to develop the oil industry until Sudan became an oil exporter, earning about $Two Billion every year. China’s political support for Sudan has forced the United Nations to abandon strong punishment of Sudan for atrocities in Darfur.
Still, international pressure is growing for China to use its political influence to pressure Sudan, which critics say is using its oil dollars to fund the military actions against its black African population in Darfur.
Because of continued oil shortages, China may be reluctant to jeopardize the sweet deals it has now.
The question is whether or not Beijing is willing to sacrifice oil and its African partnerships to salvage its international image as a responsible global force.
Twenty months later, there’s no doubt about China’s answer: No, but we’ll fake it.
Otherwise, Sudan would have stopped the swarm these past few days by hundreds of uniformed men on eight villages and one displaced person’s camp in Darfur, killing fifty civilians, prompting the U.N. to ask Sudan to investigate.
At the very least, the attacks demonstrated the government of Sudan’s continued failure to disarm militia in Darfur, and at worst its use of militia forces that target civilian populations…
These most recent attacks in Darfur coincide with China’s announcement of grand commercial plans with African countries. The Chinese president reportedly had requested that Sudan do something such as accept U.N. peacekeepers. The response was made public the next day:
The Sudanese Government would not relent on its rejection of United Nations peacekeeping troops for Darfur, President Omar al-Bashir said yesterday.
Mr al-Bashir, in Beijing for a landmark summit between Chinese and African leaders, said that allowing UN troops into the province would lead to more deaths, likening it to the peacekeeping situation in Iraq.
The horrors endured in Darfur start with the deaths of over 200,000. Sudan expelled the United Nations envoy last month. China’s president must have winked when he asked Sudan’s president to put a stop to it. Sadly, then, the tragedy of this genocide may continue.
