China and the re-colonisation of Africa
FOR the sake of intellectual transparency, let me place my cards on the table: I like China. For as long as I can remember, I have always been a great fan of the Chinese. When some of us were undergraduates, many of our mates were Marxists of the Soviet persuasion. I dabbled with Marxism for only a few months but was quickly cured of the disease.
I had been reading the novels of Russian Nobel laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn; the works of British mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell; philosopher of science Karl Popper and intellectual historians such as Isaiah Berlin; Bernard Henri-Levy and the nouveaux philosophes in France; and the Polish émigré Leszek Kolakowski. Their moral critique of the Soviet Gulag resonated with my spirit. Never again would I be a prisoner to any intellectual idols.
My interests turned to China. In spite of the bloody Cultural Revolution madness unleashed by Mao Zedong and the subsequent bloody suppression at Tiananmen Square by his successor, Deng Xiaoping, I was prepared to forgive the Chinese. I was an admirer of communism with Chinese characteristics. After all, they had emancipated the peasants and unleashed an agrarian revolution. The Chinese built the 1,000 km Tazara railway in East Africa. Premier Zhou En-Lai was revered at home as he was in Africa. During my student days in France my Chinese friend and schoolmate refused to buy even a handkerchief in France, even as many of our African colleagues were obsessed with the latest Parisian haute couture. My friend said he would rather go naked than wear anything that was not made in China. He prophesied that they were about to revive the most powerful civilisation on earth. I also read Science and Civilisation in China by Cambridge biochemist, historian and sinologist, Joseph Needham.
Today’s China is the second largest economy, with a nominal GDP of US$14.092 trillion and a per capita income of US$18,066. Within the space of a generation, the Chinese have taken more than 300 million out of poverty; built new megacities, fast trains and world-class infrastructure.
China’s President Xi Jinping (front C) walks with South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa (front L), Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (middle row 2nd L), Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe (middle row L) and other African leaders after a group photo session during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing on September 3, 2018.
President Xi Jinping told African leaders on September 3 that China’s investments on the continent have “no political strings attached”, pledging $60 billion in new development financing, even as Beijing is increasingly criticised over its debt-heavy projects abroad. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / HOW HWEE YOUNG
I have often reminded my European friends that the Chinese were the first to “discover” Africa. As early as 1405, Admiral Zheng He arrived the East African coast of Mombasa with more than 60 merchant ships. He brought with him scientists and business people. They took back with them ivory, wild game and even a few African volunteers. It was all a civilised affair. By contrast, when the Portuguese, Dutch and Spaniards arrived, Africa was plunged into slavery and rapine. Europe, and particularly the French, has continued their mission of informal empire through subterfuge and mendacity.
China’s economic engagement with our continent has been seen as welcome alternative to the Hanoverian duplicity of the Europeans who have continued to view our continent as their backyard. The Chinese have invested heavily in our infrastructures and public utilities while the Washington institutions prefer to dump Shylock loans on our continent for so-called “poverty alleviation”.
In recent years, China has become a capital-surplus country, with a staggering US$3 trillion in external reserves. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is the largest bank in the world, with assets in excess of USS$3 trillion. What explains the current outward drive of the C
FOR the sake of intellectual transparency, let me place my cards on the table: I like China. For as long as I can remember, I have always been a great fan of the Chinese. When some of us were undergraduates, many of our mates were Marxists of the Soviet persuasion. I dabbled with Marxism for only a few months but was quickly cured of the disease.
I had been reading the novels of Russian Nobel laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn; the works of British mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell; philosopher of science Karl Popper and intellectual historians such as Isaiah Berlin; Bernard Henri-Levy and the nouveaux philosophes in France; and the Polish émigré Leszek Kolakowski. Their moral critique of the Soviet Gulag resonated with my spirit. Never again would I be a prisoner to any intellectual idols.
My interests turned to China. In spite of the bloody Cultural Revolution madness unleashed by Mao Zedong and the subsequent bloody suppression at Tiananmen Square by his successor, Deng Xiaoping, I was prepared to forgive the Chinese. I was an admirer of communism with Chinese characteristics. After all, they had emancipated the peasants and unleashed an agrarian revolution. The Chinese built the 1,000 km Tazara railway in East Africa. Premier Zhou En-Lai was revered at home as he was in Africa. During my student days in France my Chinese friend and schoolmate refused to buy even a handkerchief in France, even as many of our African colleagues were obsessed with the latest Parisian haute couture. My friend said he would rather go naked than wear anything that was not made in China. He prophesied that they were about to revive the most powerful civilisation on earth. I also read Science and Civilisation in China by Cambridge biochemist, historian and sinologist, Joseph Needham.
Today’s China is the second largest economy, with a nominal GDP of US$14.092 trillion and a per capita income of US$18,066. Within the space of a generation, the Chinese have taken more than 300 million out of poverty; built new megacities, fast trains and world-class infrastructure.
China’s President Xi Jinping (front C) walks with South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa (front L), Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (middle row 2nd L), Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe (middle row L) and other African leaders after a group photo session during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing on September 3, 2018.
President Xi Jinping told African leaders on September 3 that China’s investments on the continent have “no political strings attached”, pledging $60 billion in new development financing, even as Beijing is increasingly criticised over its debt-heavy projects abroad. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / HOW HWEE YOUNG
I have often reminded my European friends that the Chinese were the first to “discover” Africa. As early as 1405, Admiral Zheng He arrived the East African coast of Mombasa with more than 60 merchant ships. He brought with him scientists and business people. They took back with them ivory, wild game and even a few African volunteers. It was all a civilised affair. By contrast, when the Portuguese, Dutch and Spaniards arrived, Africa was plunged into slavery and rapine. Europe, and particularly the French, has continued their mission of informal empire through subterfuge and mendacity.
China’s economic engagement with our continent has been seen as welcome alternative to the Hanoverian duplicity of the Europeans who have continued to view our continent as their backyard. The Chinese have invested heavily in our infrastructures and public utilities while the Washington institutions prefer to dump Shylock loans on our continent for so-called “poverty alleviation”.
In recent years, China has become a capital-surplus country, with a staggering US$3 trillion in external reserves. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is the largest bank in the world, with assets in excess of USS$3 trillion. What explains the current outward drive of the C
China and the re-colonisation of Africa
Reviewed by Unknown
on
October 06, 2018
Rating:
Reviewed by Unknown
on
October 06, 2018
Rating:
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