Chinese Colonialism

The New York Times has recently run a series of articles exploring Chinese investment in Africa and it's simply disturbing. Once again, the Chinese Government has shown itself to be the near epitome of evil, plundering natural resources and destroying local economies in the process.

Unless the Africans realize that the Chinese colonialists are no different from the European colonialists from the 1800s, it may be too late for them. Already the emerging signs from Africa are disturbing.

"The factory used to roar. From the day it opened more than 20 years ago, the vast compound had shuddered to the whir of rollers and the clatter of mechanical weaving machines spooling out millions of yards of brightly colored African cloth.

Today, only the cotton gin still runs, with the company’s Chinese managers buying raw cotton for export to China’s humming textile industry. Nobody can say when or even if the factory here will reopen.

“We are back where we started,” said Wilfred Collins Wonani, who leads the Chamber of Commerce here, sighing at the loss of one of the city’s biggest employers. “Sending raw materials out, bringing cheap manufactured goods in. This isn’t progress. It is colonialism.”"

Perhaps the worst consequence of Chinese imperialism in Africa is the impact on democracy, corruption, and transparency in African countries. As can be seen from the junta's rule in China, none of those things are very important.

While western nations and international institutions require minimum standards of transparency and attempt to bolster democratic forces by tying them to development money, this investment by China has served to undermine our efforts in bringing about a political change in Africa. Some excerpts from the article are below:

"“China’s no-strings-attached approach is problematic, particularly if its effect, if not its intent, is to undermine others’ efforts to change situations on the ground,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “Often what is happening,” he added, “is underwriting of repression.”"

"But Limassou Saleh, a community organizer in Bongor, said he was deeply skeptical. “Chad is maybe the most corrupt country in the world,” Mr. Saleh said. “We have a long history of human rights violations, of lack of transparency, of exploitation. China has a reputation for corruption. They are one of the worst human rights abusers. They have no record of transparency. What would we want with a country like that? Only to make our own problems worse.”"

Of course, China is not alone. India, too is increasing investment in many African countries as well as Myanmar, which has one of the worst democratic records in the world. Unfortunately, India must look out for itself, since it's pretty much the only nation in the developing world which can potentially stand toe-to-toe with the Chinese juggernaut. It's also lagging behind, in no small part due to the fact that radical change happens more slowly in an election booth when compared to an iron fist. Although, concerns regarding China are pushing forward investment in Indian infrastructure.

A concerted effort by the world's democracies is needed to contain the Chinese and ensure that they do not hinder the progress of the developing world. First and foremost, intense pressure is needed so that the Chinese yuan, which is severely undervalued, is floated freely so that Chinese exporters do not enjoy an insane advantage. At the same time, it's important for the world's democracies to invest in nations around the developing world, such as Zambia and other nations with democratic governments, in order to counter the Chinese and prove to the people that there is an alternate to Chinese colonialism.