China is working very hard to make friends in Africa. Access to Africa's vast natural resources is a high strategic priority for Beijing, and senior Chinese officials are more than willing to spend a little money every now and then to keep diplomatic and commercial relations strong.
This week, President Xi Jinping toured Africa, visiting Tanzania, South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo, making his personal intentions quite clear. His country needs a steady supply of resources in order to keep its economic miracle moving forward. Africa, of course, is the natural place for Beijing to be looking to solve this problem.
Estimates are that between 2010 and 2012, China funneled over $100 billion in investments into African countries. This money is being spent on, among other things, the basic infrastructure that is so lacking in much of the continent. Roads and power stations are crucial prerequisites for African development, and countries are accepting Chinese money in order to see that they are built.
Importantly, China has been welcomed in much of Africa because their approach differs so dramatically from Western powers. Despite their colonial baggage when dealing with modern African countries (or perhaps because of it), Western countries tend to stress controversial issues, such as human rights and corruption, in their conversations with African leaders.
Beijing is remarkably comfortable, however, at turning their attention to more practical concerns. There are clearly African leaders who respond very favorably to this approach.
While the Chinese press runs stories such as "China is Africa's Best Friend in History," some in Africa are worried that Beijing's policies in Africa will have the same detrimental long term consequences as the colonial period did. In the past, the colonial powers took primary goods out of Africa and used them as inputs to produce value-added products in their factories at home, which could then be sold back to Africans at a mark-up. Today, China is attempting to do the same thing once again.
It is hard to describe the Chinese strategy in Africa as anything much different than imperialism in a slightly modernized form.
Meanwhile, the message that many Western leaders and human rights advocates bring to Africa is an uncomfortable one.
For example, this week the British Foreign Minister, William Hague, and actress Angelina Jolie were scheduled to visit the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of a short African tour. The purpose of this visit was to draw international attention to the rise in wartime rapes and sexual assaults in the region. Unfortunately, rain storms meant that they couldn't complete their visit in DRC, and were re-routed to visit other hospitals and treatment centers in neighboring countries. The goals of these visits (and many others like them) are not lucrative, exclusive trade deals, but helping to solve real problems the impact many Africans' daily lives.
In Zimbabwe, a new constitution was recently adopted that hopefully will make democracy more of a reality for a country buckling under the heavy hand of President Robert Mugabe's authoritarian regime and the economic damage that has been wrought over the past three decades. As a reward and an encourage for having taken a difficult step forward, the European Union this week lifted many of the sanctions that had been in place against Zimbabwe.
Western countries have traditionally pushed hard for free and fair elections in Africa, as a means to ending human rights abuses and limiting entrenched corruption. China, of course, does not place such a high importance on these things. For an African leader unwilling to give up violence and intimidation as their electioneering tools of choice, Beijing clearly makes a much better trading partner than Washington or London.
Interestingly, China may have history on its side, after all. A small coin was found last year in Somalia that could greatly change the historical narrative concerning Africa. It is a 600 year old Chinese coin, which adds credibility to a long-standing account that a Chinese captain named Zheng He visited Africa a century before the European powers began the period of colonization that would transform the continent.
Zheng, who has been described as a "Chinese Columbus," brought back a giraffe as a souvenir, but the Chinese did not impose on Africans an exploitative economic and political system. The publicity value of this version of events has great utility, as Beijing continues to negotiate hard for access to raw materials. Some African leaders have begun to complain more vocally about the imbalance of these relations, which seem slanted towards their Chinese partners. As tensions rise, Beijing's ability to point to a long tradition of avoiding exploitation could be useful, at least in terms of spinning the mounting complaints and concerns in the short term.
Africa's problems will not solve themselves, nor will they be solved by a few more bridges, schools or electrical generators. China's actions here are driven by Chinese interests, not a charitable desire to help Africans live a better life.
Of course, one of the justifications given at the time for European control over their African territories was that they were bringing civilization and development to people in need. Economic benefits were supposedly a secondary concern. China's attempt to reuse these dated and ineffective justification should be met with a good amount of skepticism.