Who is afraid of China?
Toyin Falola
His answer follows
It is difficult to read
western papers these days or watch their televisions
and listen to their radios without some Chinese
feature, news, information, disinformation and mis
information. Western policy makers are training their
future generations to learn mandarin. Chinese Studies
is booming in their universities while the
intelligence services are in frenzy recruiting any one
who could help them decipher the Chinese mind. Even
retired old China hands are being recalled from their
retirement back into active service.
China is being discussed in the West as a threat. A
threat to Western hegemony across the world mostly in
economic terms. Nowhere is this threat more
orchestrated than in Africa. If China is a threat to
the West should we worry when the West has always been
a threat to our very existence for centuries?
I was at one of those conferences on China in the
United Kingdom a few weeks ago. It was organised by
the highbrow New Labour policy think tank, Institute
for Public Policy Research (IPPR). The theme of the
Conference was ‘China and Africa’. I went to the
conference with mixed feelings. I would have had no
problem if the theme had been ‘ Britain and China’.
But why would a British Institution be concerned about
China in Africa?
Should we not be having such meetings in Africa under
the auspices of our own governments, research centres,
NGOs and even the Private sector?
Of course this question is very rhetorical on my part.
I cannot plead naivety in these matters but still I
cannot help asking the question even if I know the
answers. Such is the ideological incapacitation (both
structurally induced and those seduced by complacency
and irresponsible leadership) of Africa these days
that even the poverty that majority of our peoples
suffer from have their experts in the West and
advocates in Western NGOs and other Western Do-Gooders
who put our pictures in the backgrounds of their
appeals. So bad is the situation that some African
countries even have Western Donor advisers to help
them negotiate in forums like the WTO where our
countries ‘negotiate’ with Western governments. It is
like the person whacking you also offering you a
handkerchief to wipe your tears! Oh Africa! Can
Turkeys really vote for an early Christmas?
That puts the IPPR conference in context. The West
has arrogated to itself the right to act, talk,
interpret and define African realities. Slavery,
colonialism, neo-colonialism / cold war and the
current recolonisation via globalisation provide the
historical template from which these attitudes are
drawn. They even define for us who are our enemies and
who are our friends!
But at every stage they have had willing
collaborators, apologists and active agents not only
at the highest level of our political society but also
civil society. Without African agency these inequities
could not have lasted this long. China is an example
of a country and peoples who have refused to give up
shaping their own destiny. Not that various
imperialist forces have not tried several times but
China has remained Chinese.
The current discourse in the West about China is very
much reminiscent of the Cold war days where the West
thought, acted and behaved as though Africa was its
exclusive preserve for exploitation and domination.
It’s like a vulture scaring off other vultures from
its perch.
So the west is now warning Africa to be wary of China.
The alarm bells are sounded about many issues on which
China is vulnerable. One, China is after Africa’s
Energy and other resources needed for its vastly
growing economy. Two, It does not respect human rights
at home and therefore will not give a damn about it in
Africa. Just check the list of China’s new best
friends in Africa! Three, it does not care about the
cost to the environment of its energy and growth
needs. Four, in international affairs china only seek
the protection of Chinese interests no matter whose ox
is gored. For instance China continuously either
abstains from or prevent (or water down) any vote of
censure in the UN Security Council and General
Assembly against governments it is doing business with
whether it is the killer regime in Khartoum killing
its own peoples in Darfur or the illegitimate
government of Idris Deby in neighbouring Chad because
of Oil.
There are many other reasons why the West thinks
Africa should be wary of China. The interesting thing
is that all of these charges and many more are true of
China’s foreign policy. But the bigger question is
that: are they not also true of Africa’s relations
with the West? Do we need Westerners to tell us about
these when our physical body and body politic are
still suffering from similar forced encounter with the
West? How can the blackened Western pot really call
the Chinese porcelain kettle black?
Does this mean that there are no legitimate issues
that should concern Africans about China’s deepening
engagement with Africa? There are many but we do not
need our former and current colonisers to give us
lectures on them. They are serial re- offenders when
it comes to exploiting Africa.
Africa can and should choose its own friends and
enemies though some enemies and friends may decide to
choose you.
There are many concerns that we must address. The
first one is China’s bilateralism in relation to
Africa. While this may suit the short-term needs of
individual Leaders, it undermines our sub regional and
Pan African institutions and commitments. It replays
the colonialist divide and conquer tactics. Most of
our countries have no chance negotiating with China
alone. They will be gobbled up one by one. Two, the
influx of Chinese goods, services (including Criminal
gangs), migrants, is undermining our local economies
and attempts at regional integration. While the goods
are much cheaper than those from the West they are
also killing our nascent industries. Even areas where
we have had much progress in the past like textiles
are being killed off from the dumping of cheaper
Chinese products. As a Funtua man I should know about
this because the Chinese have taken over our biggest
industry, FUNTUA TEXTILES. Three, in the cold war days
China, like other Socialist states used to have three
principles governing their international relations.
These were: People to people, Party-to-Party and
Government-to-Government. These days China does only
Business to government and Government to Government.
Where it has any links with parties they are not
necessarily Communist parties (since China is also any
thing but communist in name only) but ruling parties
that can facilitate access for their businesses.
This is where the biggest challenge is both for
African CSOs, NGOs, other pro- people forces and China
itself: How do we engage with the Chinese and how can
the Chinese engage with us outside of the framework of
Government and Business given the lack of
institutional and historical knowledge on both sides
on that type of engagement?
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Toyin Falola
Department of History
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station
Austin, TX 78712-0220
USA
512 475 7224
512 475 7222 (fax)
www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa