SPEAKING
FREELY China in Africa: From capitalism to
colonialism By Jian Junbo
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times
Online feature that allows guest writers to have
their say. Please click hereif you are interested in
contributing.
During a trip to
Nigeria last February, Britain's then foreign
secretary, Jack Straw, remarked that what China
was doing in Africa now was much the same as
Britain had done 150 years before. Like Straw,
some Western scholars and politicians
maintain that China is a new
colonizing power, exploiting Africa's natural
resources and harming its quest for democracy and
human rights.
Conversely, on June 18,
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said in Egypt,
where he started a visit in Africa, that the cap
of neo-colonialism could never adorn the head of
China. It's clear there exist two contradictory
opinions on China's image and actions in Africa:
colonizing power or capitalist benefactor?
Classic colonialism beginning from the
15th century commonly consisted of foreigners
occupying distant lands, controlling their
economic and political affairs and exploiting
their material resources though unfair or
one-sided trade practices or simply by force. By
that definition European states acted as
colonizing powers in Africa and Asia, but they
went far beyond colonialism through the slave
trade, proxy wars and imposing cultural norms.
After World War II, de-colonization
movements blossomed in Africa and Asia, which
finally overthrew and buried the colonial system.
Unfortunately, a new colonialism paradigm
subsequently emerged and quickly grew in 1960s as
some Western nations became new colonizing powers
through capital investments and high-tech
production.
This neo-colonialism embraces
all aspects of classic colonialism except for
occupying foreign lands, since all states in
Africa remain technically independent. In this
neo-colonialism, the exploiting power controls
weaker states' economic resources and political
systems and exploits their wealth under name of
liberal capitalism.
So where does China
fall? Is it a colonizing power or not when it
engages Africa, especially as more and more
Chinese began to arrive on the continent from the
beginning of the 21st century?
Obviously,
China hasn't occupied any African country. And as
a country with a deep historical memory of being
colonized by Western powers, China doesn't want to
control Africa's economic and political systems.
The Chinese government neither appoints military
consultants to African governments nor constructs
military bases on the continent.
Moreover,
China hasn't used deceitful means to steal and
exploit African resources. Relations between China
and African countries are grounded on reciprocal
benefits, which is not just a slogan but a fact.
Financial aid and other investments from China
without political conditions are very helpful for
African economies. For instance in 2005, the rate
of China's contribution to Africa's total economic
growth was at least 5%. Simultaneously, China buys
African resources at a fair price to fuel its
rapid economic growth.
Though China is not
a colonialist, it is a successful capitalist in
Africa. The path it has taken on that continent is
consistent with the logic of market capitalism -
liberal trade based on fair contracts.
Of
course, we cannot be blind to the possibility of
China becoming a colonizing power some day. The
day might come when African national economic
systems have become so dependent on Chinese
investments and export commodities that their
domestic and foreign policies would in effect be
decided by Beijing.
With its increasing
investments in Africa, there is the possibility
that Chinese business people will push African
national industries aside and bankrupt national
economic systems; meanwhile, more and more
companies from China enter Africa, but they simply
focus on profits regardless of their harmful
influences on African societies, such as
environmental pollution, excessive development,
and exploitation of local labor.
However,
this worry should not be taken too seriously.
Africa's economic development heavily depends on
Chinese investments or exports, but we should not
forget that China will also depend on Africa's
resources and economic growth. This
interdependence indicates that both can still
benefit from each other, which is not the same as
what those old and new colonizing powers did in
Africa, where the benefits went disproportionately
to the colonizing powers.
It may be that
individual states come to rely on China more than
China relies on them, but if Beijing keeps to the
principle of non-interference in domestic affairs,
the political systems of the individual states
whose economies heavily depend on China will not
end up being controlled by Beijing. China cannot
be recognized as a colonizing power but only as a
hegemonic power if it can influence African
countries' domestic affairs without undue
interference.
In practice, China not only
buys natural resources from Africa but helps the
continent construct infrastructure such as schools
and hospitals, and provides it with technology.
And, most important, China cannot escape from
trade regulations as a member of World Trade
Organization.
Although capitalism implies
exploitation to many, China's capitalists have to
limit their exploitation within the framework of
WTO and abide by local laws. If Chinese business
people are intent on destroying local national
economic systems (for example, the local textile
industry), African governments have the power to
stop them, because all these states are sovereign.
To some degree, Chinese business people's
influences on African society may include
environmental pollution, excessive development of
resources and collusion between them and local
officials. But these phenomena can be removed by
rule of law. Anyway, one bad example does make a
power a colonialist.
Thus it can be seen
that China is not now and will not likely become a
colonizing power. China can demonstrate that by
strictly keeping the promise written into the
Beijing Declaration of 2006, which declares that
Sino-African relations are based on political
equality and economic cooperation, it will
restrain itself from any harmful societal and
political influences while engaging Africa, the
last virgin land of capitalism.
Dr
Jian Junbo is an academic visitor at Durham
University, United Kingdom, and a lecturer at the
Center for European Studies, Fudan University,
Shanghai, China.
Speaking Freely
is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest
writers to have their say. Please click hereif you are interested in
contributing.
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