China draining Africa old skool style - or mutual benifits?

[Faust]

Something that interests me and i wonder if anyone has any more thoughts/info about it. The US is losing a important oil sources in Latin-America (eg Venuzuela with Bush his pal Chavez) but trying to secure the middle East (pipelines in Afghanistan, oil in Iraq, still buddy's with the corrupt/undemocratic Saudis, ...).

While it seems the new superpower on the rise, China is turning mainly to Africa for various resources (most important is oil of course), and also Latin-America. It's interesting to see how china is developing. No real innovation, for example their car production: they take a european model, change it a lil bit here and there, try to copy it, and then produce it at half the cost.
Same is going on a global scale, they are following the US path to becoming a powerhouse. While Europe doesn't really know where it wants to go (do they want to play it "fair" with other countries, do they want a free market or a more social system, ...).


http://www.cfr.org/publication/9557/

China is intent on getting the resources needed to sustain its soaring economy, and is taking its quest to lock down sources of oil and other necessary raw materials across the globe. With the Middle East mired in long-term instability, China has turned toward another major oil producing region whose risks and challenges have caused it to be overlooked by much of the rest of the world: Africa.

China's voracious demand for energy to feed its booming economy has led it to seek oil supplies from African countries including Sudan, Chad, Nigeria, Angola, Algeria, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and the Republic of Congo.

[Faust]

Another question, will Africa gain from this new factor?

The chinese are pretty pragmatic and don't have the load of an african colonial history on them. Which makes it easier to operate there. It could bring stability because it's easier to work in a quiet environment.
But i don't think China is that worried about africans, or anyone else for that matter. Imo they are using them to secure their growth and to explore new markets. Much like the other powers did before them.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/02/news/letter.php

Part of the steep learning curve has been a spate of incidents, from attacks on oil workers in Nigeria and a popular backlash against the fast-rising Chinese presence in Zambia, to the events that unfolded recently not far from here. Perhaps the biggest discovery for China has been the gradual realization that Africa, long ignored as a dismal sideshow, will increasingly become the stage where China's image as a global actor of the first rank will be forged.

http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=7051

Since 2000, China-Africa trade has quadrupled in volume, signaling a mutually-beneficial relationship. The continent offers China both a market for its goods and vast supplies of untapped resources, including oil, while African governments have found Chinese companies more sensitive to economic and human-rights challenges than their western counterparts. Yet not all Africans are pleased about China’s rising profile on the continent. Some protectionist sentiment has emerged in Africa, and many skeptics detect echoes of age-old colonialism in the Chinese expansion. Critics also fear that China’s unscrupulous support of pariah regimes in Zimbabwe and Sudan could undermine human rights in the continent. – YaleGlobal

[Faust]

A blessing or a curse? Africa seems to benefit, but at a fair price? Or is this the best they can get?

Selling arms to African countries helps China cement relationships with African leaders and helps offset the costs of buying oil from them. China doesn't have the same human rights concerns as the United States and European countries, experts say, so it will sell military hardware and weapons to nearly anyone. Indeed, Beijing sees Africa as a growth market for its military hardware.

Economy says many Africans are concerned over how China operates in Africa, accusing Chinese companies of underbidding local firms and not hiring Africans...
The roads, bridges, and dams built by Chinese firms are low cost, good quality, and completed in a fraction of the time such projects usually take in Africa, experts say...
Lyman says China's interest in Africa has both positive and negative effects. "It's good for the continent because it brings in a new actor who's willing to invest, but it's bad for Africa if it turns countries away from the hard work of political and economic reform," he says.

"China's not unique in cutting deals with bad governments and providing them arms," Kang says.

[Camel Jockey]

Who cares about Africa? jk

China is doing now what the US did in the coldwar. I wonder if they'll be invading any nations anytime soon.