Opinion: China versus the rest of the world
By: 6560 Colonel (Ret’d) Andrew Nellestyn OStJ HCE MPPE PhD PEng
China International Fund (CIF), aka China Sonangol, is trotting ground where others (America, France, Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, the Soviet Union et al) have gone before. And beating them at their game. America under President George W. Bush ignored the African continent focusing America’s attention elsewhere; now much regretted as great swaths of Africa are presently Chinese turf and Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East have uncertain outcomes.
Whether or not CIF is “an arm of the Chinese government”, a constituent player in China’s “going out” policy, is a mute point. A quote from the article states that China is profiting from these “buccaneers”. Such buccaneering has been the norm since Europe and the British established their African colonies thereby creating dysfunctional nation states while reaping rich harvests; natural and human resources alike.
Even before the colonial powers carved up Africa, the Arabs and African tribal chiefs, to note but a few examples, exploited Africa’s resources. The Economist’s statement that “Angola’s wealth isn’t trickling down”, reminds one of other African nations such as, for example, Nigeria to name but one, where the African elite and a multitude of foreign enterprises share the spoils to the exclusion of the populace who remain poor in the extreme.
The more things change the more they stay the same. China versus the rest of the world. A game of enterprise and bold resolve.