China's soft-power diplomacy in
Africa By Antoaneta Bezlova
BEIJING - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's
extensive tour of Africa this week - part of
Beijing's quest to secure future energy supplies
and raw materials for the country's economy - is
also being used as a platform to advance China's
foreign-policy orientation on the continent and
elsewhere in the developing world.
The
official media have portrayed Wen's trip as an
example of "win-win" diplomacy and emphasized
China's features as a kinder and softer rising
power that does not exploit others' resources in
pursuit of economic gain or mix business with
politics. Chinese diplomats have also publicly
defended China's record on the continent, saying
Beijing was "selfless" in its desire to provide
help and serve as a development model for poor
countries.
Wen's eight-day Africa tour,
which began on Saturday, is taking
him
to Egypt, Ghana, the Republic of the Congo,
Angola, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. His
trip comes less than two months after President Hu
Jintao visited Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya and five
months before a high-level China-Africa
cooperation forum is to be held in China.
The flurry of diplomatic activity
underscores China's hunger for energy and supplies
that, critics say, has led it to cooperation with
some unsavory regimes in Africa and beyond. This
month, rights watchdog Amnesty International
accused China of fueling conflicts and
human-rights violations by selling arms to
repressive regimes such as Sudan and Zimbabwe in
exchange for oil and minerals (see How to curb China's arms
trade, June 14).
But Beijing
has defended its record. "It is one-sided or wrong
to say China's growing ties with Africa are purely
for oil," assistant foreign minister He Yafei told
a press briefing last week. "The aim of
Sino-African cooperation is mutual benefit ... it
is particularly conducive for the development of
African countries."
Wen also advanced China's
"win-win" diplomacy by matching his country's
economic allure with an attractive political line.
Speaking at a news conference in Brazzaville on
Monday, he said China has no "selfish interests"
in cooperating with African countries but wants to
help the "autonomous development" of Africa. "China has been
developing relations with Africa under principles
of mutual benefit and non-interference in Africa's
internal affairs," Wen said after talks with Congo
Republic President Denis Sassou-Nguesso.
As
the tour began, the political tagline of
non-interference was highlighted in the official
English-language China Daily on June 18. "China has been offering
no-strings-attached financial and technical aid to
the most needy in Africa," said an editorial in
the paper. "It has been encouraging the African
countries to develop their economy through trade
and investment in infrastructure and social
institutions, without dictating terms for
political and economic reforms."
"It reads
like a direct rebuke of US and Western powers'
foreign policy on the continent," said a Western
diplomat based in Beijing. "It is one of the first
times they [Chinese] have so openly articulated
their diplomatic priorities in Africa, and it is
meant to present them as a more attractive world
power than the US."
Researchers in Beijing
emphasize that Wen's visit illustrates China's
gradual shift from giving priority to relations
with global powers to building political capital
with underdeveloped countries. This shift has
become apparent since Hu Jintao became president
in 2002. His predecessor, Jiang Zemin, was in
favor of advancing Sino-US ties as a prerequisite
for China's continuous economic development.
"The Africa visits this year, first by the
Chinese president and now by the premier,
demonstrate that Sino-African ties are high on
China's diplomatic agenda," said Wang Yingying, a
researcher with the China Institute of
International Studies.
As part of the
bargain for securing energy and mineral resources,
China has been providing African governments with
economic aid, technical assistance, interest-free
loans and preferential credits. Chinese companies
have been engaged in the construction of highways,
hospitals, waterworks, palaces and sports
stadiums. There are about 900 investment projects
on the continent estimated to be financed with
Chinese money.
Beijing's growing political
and economic interest in the continent has been
matched by booming bilateral trade. Trade between
China and Africa has nearly quadrupled since 2000,
hitting a record of US$39.7 billion last year,
from $10.6 billion.
Oil is the driving
factor behind China's growing engagement with
Africa. Beijing has spent billions of dollars
securing drilling rights in Nigeria, Sudan and
Angola. It has also signed numerous exploration
deals with various African countries from the
Congo Republic to Ethiopia. The continent now
accounts for some 25% of China's oil imports, and
Beijing wants to step them up to diversify from
Middle-Eastern oil.
Angola, which is on
Wen's tour agenda, is China's second-biggest oil
supplier, with exports worth $6.58 billion last
year. To secure future reliable supplies, Beijing
has offered $3 billion worth of credits to help
repair Angola's infrastructure, which was
devastated by a civil war.
Countries like
the Congo Republic and South Africa that do not
have oil also figure high on Wen's agenda, but
they have resources such as copper and aluminum
that China's economy needs.
