No. 1006
Delivered February 9, 2007
March 26, 2007
This paper, in its entirety, can be found at:
www.heritage.org/research/Africa/h l1006.cfm
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Talking Points
• China is seeking new markets for its ex-
port-driven economy and access to Africa’s
abundant natural resources, especially sources
of energy.
• Friendly relations with African nations can
bring favorable results for Chinese efforts at
the U.N. African states have been pivotal in
preventing Taiwan from joining the World
Health Organization and in tabling a condem-
nation of Chinese human rights practices at
the U.N.’s Commission on Human Rights.
• Chinese policies in Africa are troubling,
especially when they support authoritarian
African regimes, hinder local economic
development, and exacerbate conflicts and
human rights abuses in countries such as
Sudan and Zimbabwe.
• China’s broad energy, trade, political, diplo-
matic, and military interests and activities in
Africa threaten to undermine long-standing
international efforts to promote reg ional
peace, prosperity, and democracy.
Into Africa:
China’s Grab for Influence and Oil
Peter Brookes
Amid festering concerns about China’s burgeoning
global power, Beijing has firmly set its sights on
expanding its influence in Africa. In a throwback to
the Maoist revolutionary days of the 1960s and 1970s
and the Cold War, Beijing has once again identified
the African continent as an area of strategic interest.
But this time, the People’s Republic of China (PRC)
is not interested in exporting international commu-
nism. It is international trade, economics, and political
influence that have got Beijing’s rapt attention. The jury
is still out about whether China’s strong engagement in
Africa is a good or a bad thing. Some have praised Chi-
nese involvement in Africa, while others have called it
“neo-colonialism.” There is no doubt that it is a subject
of intense discussion in Washington, D.C.
Just this week in the U.S. edition of the Financial
Times, in an editorial titled “No Panacea for Africa:
China’s Influence Is Not an Alternative to Neo-
Liberalism,” the newspaper’s editorial staff wrote that
“China’s footprint in Africa becomes more pro-
nounced each time the continent receives another
high-level Chinese delegation.” It continued:
President Hu Jintao’s eight-nation tour of Africa
this week has been no exception. In its wake
we can expect more roads, more bridges, and
airports, more oil deals, more credit and also
more Chinese labor on the continent. We can
also expect more cheap imports.
This article doesn’t cover it all, but it is a pretty good
place to begin a discussion of recent Chinese activity
in Africa.