April 10, 2006

China In Angola

When one thinks of an African country and foreign aid, one often looks northward toward Europe, and once in a while westward, toward the United States. Historical links between developed European nations and undeveloped African nations has more or less resulted in a situation where the former are the largest providers of aid to the latter—leaving out the fact that several African nations are heavily indebted to their European counterparts. A website called macauhub.com quotes a Portuguese bank report which states that China has become the largest aid partner to the southern African nation of Angola, surpassing Brazil, Portugal, and Russia.

Angola was a Portuguese colony until November 1975. The greater part of its post-independence history has been mired by civil war, with rival factions backed by the United States and the former Soviet Union. This in part explains Russia's current involvement in Angola with regard to aid assistance. Angola, like Mozambique (another former Portuguese colony) was a battleground for rival ideologies—economic capitalism and Marxism. Since 2002, when the civil war ended, Angola has been in peace.

Angola is the second largest oil producing nation in sub-Saharan Africa, second only to Nigeria, according to this report from the Council on Foreign Relations (an American think tank). The report quotes Elizabeth Economy, an expert on Asian Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, who states that:
"One of the interesting things about doing business with China these days is that it's a full-on supplier. They will come in and provide everything that surrounds the development of the country."

But aid comes at a price. Though China may "build railroads, schools, roads, hospitals, bridges, and offices" as well as "lay a fiber-optic network and train Angolan telecommunications workers" 25% of Angola’s oil exports goes to China.

For now, China appears as one energy hungry nation, making oil-producing African nations its darlings. Energy may be what China is really after but by building infrastructure and providing aid to Angola, it increases its relevance on a continent that is undoubtedly the least developed in the world. The United States may have the largest and most flamboyant embas[s]ies in the capital cities of a key African nations. But it appears that the next generation of Africans may be looking more eastward than westward.

Related article: China's African Policy (January 2006)

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Posted by Chippla Vandu, 8:54 PM | links to this post

14 Comments:

Good article Chippla. I will certainly reference it in my next posting on China which shall be very soon. Also noteworthy that you are following the excellent work of the Council on Foreign Relations.

One should remember that the present regime in Angola remains one of the most corrupt governments in the world according to the latest Transparency International reports and reports from several government and non-government organizations. Angolan President Santos and his state ministers and his cronies involved in the state oil business(es) and in diamond exports are accused of skimming BILLIONS$$$ off the top for their own private (offshore) bank accounts. Ref Global Witness reports on Angola for starters.

With that in mind then YES, the Chinese government and China's state-sponsored businesspeople and bankers working with the Angolan regime would make PERFECT partners. I wouldn't call what the Chinese government is doing in Angola and other sub-Saharn African nations development aid, it is more like a "help yourself to my country" while we (the corrupt regimes) abscond with the people's money and natural resources. Guess who will be left with cleaning up the mess after the party's over?
Posted by Blogger Black River Eagle at April 23, 2006 4:53 PM  
Black River Eagle:

Yes, President Santos has been a hard nut to crack when it comes to ridding Angola of corruption. He strongly resisted moves to make public all payments to his government by oil multinationals operating in Angola.

Your unhidden dislike of China's business model (when it comes to its search for energy) is presented in what I consider prefect sarcasm. It is quite unfortunate that it has to be this way, i.e., China doing business with unaccountable African governments. But believe me, there appears to be more trust of the Chinese than Europeans or Americans, since they come with no strings attached.
Posted by Blogger Chippla Vandu at April 23, 2006 5:06 PM  
I realize that I must appear very Sinophobic and alarmist in my comments about Chinese investment activities in Africa and elsewhere these days. There are a number of very interesting Chinese people I have met and befriended in my life that would vehemently dispute such an accusation.

I do need to work at "toning down" my bad attitude toward the Chinese government in my writing online. This aggresiveness is not meant to include the millions and millions of people in China who remain helpless to affect any type of real change in their government. My comments are primarily focused on the small cadre of business and political elites that control practically all facets of Chinese life today.

Fact is, I DO NOT TRUST anything that the Communist regime in Beijing does both domestically and internationally. I extend that deep mistrust to millions of Chinese who have for decades now kept that regime in power vs. the handfull of PRC citizens who risk their lives daily to achieve some sense of freedom from Beijing's repression.

Not to mention our friends on the small island of Taiwan who have bravely resisted the overt threats and sabre-rattling of the Beijing regime for more than 50 years now while building a struggling but vibrant democracy, only to be abandoned in the end by almost all Western democracies and their other trading partners around the world.

Perhaps that is the unfortunate thing for me re: the PRC, that I probably will never have trust in that country's foreign policies until I see a radical change in the way mainland China is governed and in the behavior of certain Chinese businesses working in at-risk developing countries.

Of course I shall be long dead before that China ever rises.
Posted by Blogger Black River Eagle at April 24, 2006 2:12 PM  
The system under which China operates does give cause for concern. In principle, China is a communist nation in which anyone hoping to aspire to the upper echelons of society must belong to the communist party. In reality, China is a mix of so many things--it’s latest addition being a certain degree of free-market capitalism. It has become close to impossible to read international news without finding some reference to China.

I get the feeling that the United States is underestimating the rise of China. Europe, despite its immense wealth and history of innovation, appears to be facing a psychological dark age. It’s as though Europe and America once believed that they alone (together with Japan) had the edge when it came to developing technologically challenging products and services. These days, the Asians (who copied a lot of these technologies) are showing that anyone could do it, provided they live in a society that allows them to.

China goes to African nations with no qualms. It couldn’t care less whether Mugabe is President of Zimbabwe or whether corruption thrives in the Kenyan government. It goes to these nations strictly for business—that is, to get resources, find a market for its products and to make money. And while doing so, it chips in a bit of developmental aid. In my opinion, several people in the so-called Western nations are absolutely ignorant of China’s role in the developing world. The view that any thing non-Western is a threat appears to be so ingrained in the Western psyche that people fail to realize that the only reason why many people around the world speak English, watch American movies, use American products and copy America is because of American cultural superiority. As that superiority wanes, so does interest in things American.

I still consider myself a Sino-skeptic. I am deeply distrustful of the relationship between several African nations and China. But then, I ask myself, what dictates my moral position? European nations and the United States, realizing the predicament of several African countries found it so hard to offer some form of debt cancellation. It took years of pleading and persuasion. Now I am not saying that anyone should blame Europe or America for the pathetic situation in some African nations. Far from it! What I am trying to say is that when a nation preaches human rights and human values, it must also show it. The foreign aid provided to African nations is rendered useless by the amount several of the nations payback in debts. Europe preaches free market economics but closes its markets to African products.

One is left wondering what exactly human rights means. Human rights is more than the freedom to go on the streets and demonstrate. It must also extend to the provision of basic services. China, with its abysmally poor record on democracy, has succeeded in lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty in a mere four decades. All this against the backdrop of operating an oppressive communist system. In my honest opinion, we live in a word of relative moralities, where morality is defined strictly by what a nation stands to gain. Moral superiority is not the absolute one finds in philosophical or theological discussions, but the relative, defined predominantly by the United States. As America wanes (and it would), so would its worldview. 60 years from now, it may be unnecessary to seek Washington’s consent for building nuclear power plants in Iran. The balance of power would surely have shifted. The world would have become more globalized and our children and grandchildren will speak of the days when America was the only superpower. They would live in a world with centers of power.

Yes, even we Sino-skeptics or Sino-phobics have to learn to live with China. It’s that behemoth of a monster with a 4,000-year history that appears to be rising once again. As for Taiwan, it stands little chance of independence, knowing fully well that China would be an integral part of its continued economic success for decades, if not centuries, to come.
Posted by Blogger Chippla Vandu at April 25, 2006 1:31 PM  
....not meant to include the millions and millions of people in China who remain helpless to affect any type of real change in their government...
==================================
Man you seems really know nothing about what is happening in China. If you can read Chinese, you will find the newspaper, magazines, BBS forums on the webs are being flooded by critisism of ordinary people about the government, and the government react sometime VERY FAST to change the laws or practice in order to response to the people's needs. If you call people in China is not effecting any chnage, the rest of the world can only be described as stand still like a stone.
Posted by Anonymous Anonymous at May 4, 2006 8:06 AM  
Ooooh, someone from the PRC (Anonymous) has finally showed up in our sector of the blogosphere. If what you say is true, that the Beijing government works very fast to react to the citizens' criticisms and complaints and suggestions, then show us some proof of what you are talking about and make it verifiable, if you can.

How can we on the other side of the Great Firewall know what's really going on inside of China when all that the PRC government-controlled media does is feed the world a load of BS. We've got our filters running on this side of The Wall too you know. BS is Out
Dude. Facts are In.

What are the "People" of the PRC asking their government in Beijing to do about its support for the regime in the Sudan and assisting the ongoing genocide and violence against the people of Darfur, for example? That's an easy one for the Great People of the PRC, if they know anything about it at all.
Posted by Blogger Black River Eagle at May 4, 2006 5:48 PM  
Well, if you can read Chinese, what you want to know is published in newspapers, magazines, or even in the web everyday. Even in the government owned People's Daily web, critism against the government is the main content in the BBS forum. One thing for you to remember is that things not reported by the English media of the West does not mean they are not exist. For Suden, Chinese do know and believe that it is for the local to sort out their problem. The problem in Africa are historical, ethnical, racial and religious as well, and most of them are in fact existed and brought forward from the colonial time. However, Chinese do believe economic development will bring good to everyone.
Posted by Anonymous Anonymous at May 6, 2006 7:27 AM  
http://www.raceandhistory.com/historicalviews/2005/28032.html
===================================
Some reading about Sudan
Posted by Anonymous Anonymous at May 6, 2006 8:40 AM  
Dear Anonymous,

It is true that I do not read "Chinese" but I do have friends and colleagues who can read and write in Mandarin and Cantonese, which I believe are the two dominant languages in the PRC. I have proficiency in the English and German languages, Chippla can handle English and Dutch, and readers from all around the world visit this blog. So I will ask you again, show us examples online of this openness in government and media that you write about in your comment.

As far as having a view of the world that is only influenced by Western media, surely you jest. I and millions of others who participate in the blogosphere daily read and listen to and view news from sources all around the globe. "Chinese" language newssites and blogs included for many I presume.

Your statement about the Chinese people in the PRC having information about the crisis in Darfur, Sudan via the state-controlled media and other news sources AND their viewing the crisis as an "internal problem" is at the very least worrisome. Nah, actually that is absolutely awful and loathesome. Really? Hundreds of millions of middle and upper-class Chinese with access to international news agree with your statement? Whansinn!!

The RaceandHistory website you reference for background info on the Sudan is perhaps interesting but let me offer you some other credible sources for news on the Sudan today:

SudanTribune.com
SudanReeves.org
International Crisis Group
Human Rights Watch
Nicholas Kristoff (N.Y. Times)
The Washington Post
Foreign Policy (Carnegie Endowment)
Power and Interest News Report
SaveDarfur.org
Sudan Disinvestment Campaign
Passion of the Present
Sudan Watch
Global Voices Online
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum - Committee on Conscience - Sudan
Stanford University Library - Africa South of the Sahara - Sudan

Google News search = Sudan Darfur
Google search = Sudan Darfur genocide China oil PetroChina CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation)

The above list Sir (or Madam) will give you a good start on finding solid background information on the Sudan (& China) from various points-of-view. I presume that you can easily access all of these above websites and blogs from where you live and work.

I sincerely appreciate (honestly) your participation in this dialogue and must apologize for my cynicism and aggressiveness. It's a big red "hot button" issue for me and lots of other folks. Do stay with us and stop by my place (blog) sometime, as you would be very welcome.
Posted by Blogger Black River Eagle at May 8, 2006 7:02 PM  
Black River Eagle if you have friends who can read Chinese, simply tell them to visit some major Chinese BBS forum. (if they come from the Mainland, they may tell you, but it may not be the case if they come from HK or taiwan, they may not know China more than you do) There are just too many to mention all of them here. The recent major law promulgated by the government in response to the public opinion (especially on the web) is the new law relating to land resumption, after people expressing the need to control the local government in taking the land from people without sufficient compensation (the topic has been keep vert hot for about 6 months before the new law and policy is promulgated). I also know that in Shanghai city alone, all the city's local laws and regulations are revised and half of them are cancelled (the effect of which is to relax the former restrictions on the people which is now regarded as not good for the people's freedom). Very often you will also find news on the web about the abuse of power by government officials, and we have a saying is that the people on the web will repeatedly maintain such topic (for attracting public attention) until those official are investigated and arrested (it do work). However sometimes China has gone for the opposite side too much and looks stupid. Recent news in Shanghai is that a policman charged a woman taxi driver for violating some traffic regulation, the taxi driver was not happy with that and the she slapped the policman in public for 14 times. The policeman dared not to flight back because there is regulation for not to flight back. It seems like a joke although it really happened. The taxi driver was arrested ( of course) The policeman was strongly critised by people on the web (not by his superior) and described him as stupid. There is also web site for people to report corruption, and you will also know many government official are arrested for corruption every year and that is no longer big news. In some major financial magazines, in some of the issues nearly half of the contents are reports on corruption cases. Unfortunately very few of those information are published in English 9as they are mainly internal matters only). If you really want to have a feel of what is going on in China, the best way is to watch people debating and expressing their ideas on the local BBS forums, unless you are going to promote overthrowning the government, you can say whatever you like on the web, believe me some of them are more cynicism and aggressive against the Chinese government than you, and very often that will also bring a war on the forum too :-)
Posted by Anonymous Anonymous at May 9, 2006 8:20 AM  
Dear Anonymous,
Thank you.

I did a Google search for the terms "China BBS forums" and found plenty of info as you have described (lots of forums in English too). The Virtual China blog has a good article on China's BBS forums dated March 27th and titled "China's BBS for breaking news". It is definately worth the time to read for anyone interested in comparisons between China's internet practices for sharing and discussing the news and those of the "West". Here is the link:
http://www.virtual-china.org/2006/03/chinas_bbs_for_.html

Thanks Chippla for allowing this long dialogue to take place. I hope that we hear from you again real soon Mr./Ms. Anonymous.
Peace...:-)
Posted by Blogger Black River Eagle at May 9, 2006 3:20 PM  
Anonymous and Black River Eagle:

Thanks for the insight. The beauty of the blogosphere is the ability to get to hear from the other party first hand, without having to rely on the mainstream media. I will be following up on some translated versions of Chinese BBS forums and making a few posts about them on this blog.
Posted by Blogger Chippla Vandu at May 11, 2006 10:09 AM  
Hi Bill. I think I've said this on your website and I'll say it again here. I'm not quite sure why many Westerners think China is the devil. The Chinese government is no more or less moral than any major power, and if anything I trust government based on pragmatism (which that government has in spades) over ideology any day. At the end of the day, if you're looking for benevolence or altruism for Africa, you're not going to find it in the form of a foreign nation. Every nation and every government acts in its own self-interest and so in short, I don't expect China to be any better or worse than the Americans or Europeans.
Posted by Anonymous Jennifer Brea at June 15, 2006 10:58 AM  
I started writing a long response here and realized it was completely off-topic! So I brought it to my own blog.
Posted by Anonymous Jennifer Brea at June 15, 2006 12:29 PM  

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