néo colonialism in africa by china
Bi-lateral agre… Indeed, the African policy, as part of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) foreign policy of the “Going Global Strategy”, poses some serious questions about the role of China as a rising power and its impacts on the current international system order- as a status quo or revisionist power (Chen 2016, p. 101; Chen 2016, p. 178; Reeves 2018; p. 990). Thompson, A. Containing China? Hurst Publishers Ltd: London. 19, pp. Written by: Ben Willis Kiala, C. (2010) ‘China-Angola aid relations: strategic cooperation for development’, South African Journal of International Affairs, 17, 3, 313-331. 1, pp. Chinese aid to Africa can be criticized as a form of economic colonization. Chinese state-backed companies will continue to extract precious natural resources with little to no benefit derived by indigenous populations. Alden, C. and Large, D. (2011) ‘China’s Exceptionalism and the Challenges of Delivering Difference in Africa’, Journal of Contemporary China, 20, 68, 21-38. At present, the Sino-African relationship appears – despite its various manifestations – to be broadly popular both in its own right and in comparison to the West: when asked the explicit question of whether China is practising any form of neo-colonialism, African survey respondents overwhelmingly reject the notion (Sautman Hairong, 2009). Lumumba-Kasongo, T 2011, ‘China-Africa Relations: A Neo-Imperialism or a Neo-Colonialism? He, too, had a barrage of facts to show China is bringing benefits to Africa. While this would place it ahead of the USA, mostly an importer of African goods, it is important to note, however, that the relative import and export figures for trade with China are still approximately one-third of the EU-27 totals – although this is steadily declining (ibid.). Several intellectual debates on China-Africa relations have been mostly reactive in the sense that many analyses have focused on Africa’s past relations with the Global North. Soares de Oliveira, R. (2011) ‘Illiberal peacebuilding in Angola’, Journal of Modern African Studies, 49, 2, 287-314. Beeson, M 2018, ‘Geoeconomics with Chinese Characteristics: the BRI and China’s Evolving Grand Strategy’, Economic and Political Studies, vol. The question though remains as to whether this increased trade, investment, and aid is actually beneficial to the continent, or merely repeating past experience. Reeves, J 2018, ‘Imperialism and the Middle Kingdom: The Xi Jinping Administration’s Peripheral Diplomacy with Developing States’, Third World Quarterly, vol. If following this line of thought, greater responsibility is then attributed to African states to implement better governance and regulation on Chinese businesses. (2007) ‘The Growing Relationship Between China and Sub-Saharan Africa: Macroeconomic, Trade, Investment, and Aid Links’, World Bank Research Observer, 22, 1, 103-130. Sautman, B. and Hairong, Y. [4] As Deborah Brautigam puts it, “China’s development aid to Africa has increased rapidly, yet this might be the only fact on which we have widespread agreement when it comes to Chinese aid” (2011: 203). That which arguably qualifies as Overseas Development Assistance – the majority of it tied to Chinese products and expertise – has however apparently increased from $300 million to $1-3 billion per annum over the last decade, putting China on a par with the largest DAC donors (ibid.). The renewed engagement of China with African states and China’s growing assertiveness on the global stage have spurred a polarising debate on the conceptualisation of China’s involvement in Africa within the wider academic literature (Chen 2016, p. 100; Swedlund 2017, p. 389). Lynch, G. and Crawford, G. (2011) ‘Democratization in Africa 1990-2010: An Assessment’, Democratization, 18, 2, 275-310. Swedlund, HJ 2017, ‘Is China Eroding the Bargaining Power of Traditional Donors in Africa?’, International Affairs, vol. Ipak, to nije sprečilo izabrane kandidate/-kinje, sada već buduće debatere/-ke u želji da stiču nova znanja i veštine.Informacioni centar Evropske unije i Otvorena komunikacija nedavno su raspisali […] The post Počeo je sedmi ciklus Evropske škole debate appeared first on Diplomatic portal. By Ellington Ngandu. (2009) China’s New Role In Africa. Since President Xi Jinping has taken office in 2012, the CCP has pursued more aggressive policies abroad which legitimately raised questions about China’s role in the international system as a revisionist or status quo power. The United States in the South Pacific Since 2011, China’s Instrument or Europe’s Influence? La conférence de Milica Orlović Čobanov, auteure de la publication « De Stockholm à Belgrade: à travers la collection de drapeaux de la collection… [...], Prvom u nizu od 8 radionica održanom u subotu, 6. marta krenuo je sedmi ciklus Evropske škole debate. cize that China is a colonial st ate in Africa where it seizes resources, abuses local wo rkers, attacks African coun- tries’ national industries and damages ecol ogical Samy, Y. Contemporary state borders obviously derive from the partition of the continent by the European imperial powers during the late nineteenth century, and are widely acknowledged as being tailored to suit the political and economic needs of the metropole regardless of indigenous demographic, ethnographic, or topographic rationality (Herbst, 1989). Date written: November 2018, All content on the website (with the exception of images) is published under the following Creative Commons License, Copyright © — E-International Relations. In this regard, Campbell (2008, p. 101) and Alden (2007, p. 82) placed their hope within the growing African civil society in keeping Chinese deeds in check and enforcing compliance from their respective governments. Collier, P. (2008) The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It. Africa has become China’s focus on its quest of acquiring these natural resources, which the continent has in plenty. Written for: Karen Treasure First, an account of the ideological, political and economic underpinnings of China’s African Policy will be explored. What Were the Causes and Consequences of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War? 9, no. What has been coined as the “Dragon Slayers” versus “Panda Huggers” debate – on whether China represents a threat or an opportunity for the African continent – presents valid arguments on both sides (Balasubramanyam 2015, p. 25). In 2006, China has released its first African Policy Paper characterising Chinese engagement with Africa as enshrining the concepts of equality, non-interference and mutual benefits (Ncube 2012; p. 22; Chen 2016, p. 113; Zhu 2017, p. 32). amount, in any currency, is appreciated. Parallel to this, Asian states’ capture of the manufacturing sector, and continued barriers to developed world trade, contributed further to African states’ development failures (Melamed, 2006). 2, pp. Building on this seemingly shared identity, the CCP has constructed its African approach upon the “Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence” which emphasises mutual respect for states’ sovereignty, mutual non-aggression, mutual non-interference, equality and mutual benefits, and peaceful coexistence (Chen 2016, p. 112). In contrast to the West, China therefore explicitly rejected the Afro-pessimism that had portrayed an increasingly ‘hopeless continent’ in need of paternalistic enlightenment (The Economist, 2000). [7] Rather than an issue of the exploitation of Zambian workers per se, Taylor (2009: 166-167) suggests that this is a general reflection of poor Chinese labour standards at home as much as abroad. I don’t buy the canard that China is Africa’s gift that keeps on giving. Second, the heart of the debate of China as a threat or opportunity for Africa will be discussed by exposing arguments from both camps. Far from denying the potential threat that China represents toward Africa, the “Panda Huggers” emphasise on the practical benefits that African states can reap from a Chinese state willing to invest in developing the continent’s infrastructure. Haugen, H. O. Sino-African relations are complex and multi-layered. Foreign capital, so he argued, was being used for the exploitation of developing world states, and not their betterment, and was therefore only perpetuating the inequalities and injustices of the colonial era. In his critique of the under-theorisation of Sino-African relations, A’Zami (2015, p. 725) exposes the contradictions in the concept of equal partnership propagandised by the CCP (unequal equal). As argued by Beeson (2018, p. 241), our current modern world has only experienced one major international transition (American Hegemony) and hence, it is difficult to ascertain on the meaning of China’s economic and strategic expansion, including its activities in Africa. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. China’s activities and behavior in Africa may only be described as neo-colonial and exploitative of African peoples and the environment. Again, such criticism should be tempered by the fact that Western states and IFIs continue to provide several billion dollars in aid each year to the likes of Cameroon and Ethiopia despite their often dire records on political rights and civil liberties (Brautigam, 2009: 285). Le public aura l’occasion de découvrir la riche collection de décorations et de médailles que Pavle Beljanski a reçues entre 1919 et 1959, au cours de sa fructueuse carrière diplomatique. Taylor, I. Pinkovskiy, M. and Sala-I-Martin, X. In this light, this essay argues that this polarising debate on China as a neo-colonial power (threat) or as a genuine development partner (opportunity) highlights the growing uncertainty about China’s rise as a great power and its implications for the conception of international relations. While this has benefited African resource exporters – although it may conversely lead to increased costs for the continent’s energy importers – the developmental outcomes of increased revenue, as noted above, are dependent to a large degree on the choices of African elites. This work can be used for background reading and research, but should not be cited as an expert source or used in place of scholarly articles/books. BBC News website at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6178897.stm, accessed 17 March 2012. 94-95), China has effectively used trade to co-opt African elites and governments into abiding to and advancing Chinese mercantilist interests and for the protection of Chinese businesses at the expense of African people’s social and environmental concerns. In order to understand the continent’s apparent susceptibility to various forms of economic and political exploitation, we must first look briefly – and in admittedly oversimplified terms – to the nature of African state formation since the colonial era. 44-59. When BRI launched in 2013, it prioritized regional development projects in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe. Belgrade initiative 4 Digital Public Diplomacy, Author Q&A on the Birth of ‘Fake News’ a Century Ago, Biden win ‘would be good for global tech’, Public Diplomacy and the New “Old” War: Countering State-Sponsored Disinformation (2020), NGOs urge Facebook to stop censoring Palestinian content, Les trésors de la collection : La décoration de la Légion d’Honneur de Pavle Beljanski, Počeo je sedmi ciklus Evropske škole debate, Quand le monde s’est arrêté, elles ne l’ont pas fait. While exact figures vary depending on the source, it is clear that after a decade of minimal growth in the 1990s, official trade between China and Africa has witnessed a dramatic increase since 2000 – rising from $10 billion in 2000 to over $100 billion in 2008 (Haugen, 2011). 2, pp. In addition, Chen’s (2016) study of the polarising debate on China as a threat to Africa revealed that the stance of each side depends on the choice of unit for analysis. (2010) ‘African Poverty is Falling… Much Faster Than You Think’, NBER Working Paper 15775, National Bureau of Economic Research. In a keynote address at the 2012 China and Canada in Africa conference in Ottawa, Ambassador Zhong responded indirectly to criticism of China’s large-scale imports of natural resources from Africa by emphasizing that the contributions of the “buyer” in natural resources trade should not be underestimated: “The financial value of the resources is only realized when there is a buyer. While China is endowed with rich mineral resources itself, the country primarily relies on imports to meet its domestic demands. 240-256. 108-110; Chen 2016, p. 103; Langan 2017, p. 91; Zhu 2017, p. 28; Reeves 2018, pp. Palgrave Macmillan: Houndmills. This is particularly evident in the discourse and practice of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), set up in 2000 as the main framework for collective dialogue[3]. And third, China’s development aid assistance to Africa represents an effort to enhance its soft power and influence abroad by providing an alternative development model to the Washington Consensus, and securing support of African states within international institutions (Zhu 2017, p. 26; p. 29; p. 32). In a keynote address at the 2012 China and Canada in Africa conference in Ottawa, Ambassador Zhong responded indirectly to criticism of China’s large-scale imports of natural resources from Africa by emphasizing that the contributions of the “buyer” in natural resources trade should not be underestimated: “The financial value of the resources is only realized when there is a buyer. China Returns to Africa: A Rising Power and a Continent Embrace. Almost 100% of Angola and Sudan’s exports to China are made up of crude oil, for example, while only South Africa has a relatively diversified export profile. Larmer, M. and Fraser, A. Scepticism therefore exists over the broader developmental potential for the Angolan people, although significant aid and investment has clearly been successfully used to develop much-needed infrastructure such as railways, schools, hospitals, and housing[6] (Kiala, 2010). 102-103; Zhu 2017, p. 23). Soares de Oliveira, R. (2008) Making Sense of Chinese Oil Investment in Africa. China has sought, and with some degree of success, to construct an ‘exceptionalist’ approach toward African states, as based on mutual benefit and political equality, one that differs from the paternalistic and highly conditional approach so often proffered by Western states and IFIs (Alden Large, 2011).