That’s the question that Yitzhak Shichor, a professor of East Asian Studies at the University of Haifa, raises in a new article for the Jamestown Foundation’s China Brief. Here’s how he sets it up:

In recent years China's Africa policy has attracted fire from many quarters outside the African continent—governments, NGOs, the media and academics. African governments, on the other hand, appeared to have welcomed the Chinese presence and underlined its benefits, often compared to their negative experience with the Western and even the Soviet presence, occasionally termed "colonialism" and "imperialism." Africans, with the possible exception of some opposition groups, have failed to criticize the so-called Chinese "model."

Not anymore.

Increasing numbers of African leaders are themselves now willing to criticize China’s track record in Africa, Shichor says. He notes in particular a long interview Libyan foreign minister Musa Kusa gave to the newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat last month (full text here). Here are some of the minister’s more interesting comments:

We have a positive opinion of the Chinese because they aided the liberation movement in Africa; we consider this to be great work undertaken by China and we hope to continue in the same path. We are also aware of the importance of China as a strong country contributing to international balance, but not at the expense of the people…

When we look at the reality on the ground we find that there is something akin to a Chinese invasion of the African continent. This is something that brings to mind the effects that colonialism had on the African continent from the creation of settlements to the dispersal of African communities.

Therefore we advise our Chinese friends not to follow in this direction i.e. bringing thousands of Chinese workers to Africa under the pretext of employment, for at the same time as this Africa is suffering from unemployment. Therefore we invite the Chinese to contribute to solving the problem of unemployment in Africa. And so perhaps the Chinese can train the African workforce, thereby creating a labor market that could include thousands of African workers, rather than brining in Chinese workers who are provided with farms and homes in Africa, for this is something that we consider to be re-settlement.

Other African politicians have also criticized China recently, reports the BBC. For instance, Nigeria's foreign minister, Bagudu Hirse, said he was unhappy with China for making an investment deal with Guinea’s repressive regime: “We accept what China is doing. And we welcome their investment. But they must understand that we are very sensitive to good governance and democracy.”

When Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was asked about allegations of Chinese “colonialism” in Africa at his press conference in Egypt in November, he had this to say: “China has helped Africa build many schools, hospitals, and malaria prevention and treatment centers, which benefited more than 100 million African people. In fact, China's assistance to Africa has never had any political strings attached. We believe the destiny of a country is in the hands of its people.” (English transcript of the press conference here.)

In his article, Shichor also calls China’s policy of increased economic engagement with Africa “one of the most remarkable success stories in global politics over the last two decades,” and notes that China’s economic contributions to the continent are generally widely appreciated. These kind of negative reactions are probably inevitable as China’s global influence increases, and its increasingly wide range of interests in different countries becomes more complicated to manage. How China handles the next stage of its Africa policy will be a crucial test of its diplomacy.



--Andrew Batson