tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post6838313729739467838..comments2023-09-18T09:55:35.795-04:00Comments on China in Africa: The Real Story: The Atlantic Joins the China-Africa Scare-MongeringDeborah Brautigamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10813215294689392170noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-77782975384218943382011-09-16T09:55:21.807-04:002011-09-16T09:55:21.807-04:00Ona, contact me directly at American University or...Ona, contact me directly at American University or IFPRI -- I am trying to be in touch with Ph.D. students doing research on China going global.Deborah Brautigamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03141925702416939602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-62880282175634784892011-09-16T04:37:08.813-04:002011-09-16T04:37:08.813-04:00Thank you very much Deborah for your posts. I enjo...Thank you very much Deborah for your posts. I enjoy reading your 'correctives' to the hackneyed stereotype that China is re-colonising Africa and grabbing all the land from the feckless natives.<br /><br />I am a Ph.D. student at Eramus University Rotterdam, where I am conducting research on the internationalisation patterns of Chinese firms, principally in sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia; therefore, I am very interested in China's role in Africa.<br /><br />Why, in your view, does China's involvement in Africa steer so much pathos from the Western political and intellectual estalishment?<br /><br />The tone of the articles on China's involvement in Africa(such as in The Economist) is particularly irksome because they present Africans (leaders and ordinary folk) as 'victims' being bullied by the Chinese and needing to be rescued. How credible is this picture portayal of servile Africans and malevolent Chinese?Ona Akemuhttp://www.ona-akemu.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-81887242098797649152011-08-01T04:49:37.300-04:002011-08-01T04:49:37.300-04:00Very few people try to understand why president Mu...Very few people try to understand why president Mugabe chose to antagonize a number of former colonialist powers (always the same, those that are trying to charge China with neo-colonialism in Africa to-day) by embarking on a tough policy of seizure of the best arable lands in Zimbabwe that had been monopolized by these colonialists. These seizures led, inter alia, to the western powers' retaliatory measures consisting in all kinds of sanctions imposed on the Mugabe regime. So, we can see that the current difficulties in which the Zimbabwean people are stuck are not fortuitous. China also suffered from this kind of ostracism at the hands of the western powers. Why should it join hands with those western powers in their isolation campaign against Zimbabwe? It should absolutely not.<br /><br />Sixty-center.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-40064636107817799372011-07-29T12:20:07.133-04:002011-07-29T12:20:07.133-04:00Many issues here, but let me address only one: the...Many issues here, but let me address only one: the familiar disjuncture between the common allegation that the Chinese are going to "bring in all their own workers" (i.e. to build the National Defense College) and the reality that Chinese companies are hiring local construction workers for the National Defense College project, but under very poor (read: typical Chinese) working conditions. This comes out clearly in this article reposted on a Zimbabwean blog: https://newsdzezimbabwe.wordpress.com/2011/05/25/we-are-beig-beaten-by-chinese-bosses-defence-college-workers/Deborah Brautigamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03141925702416939602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-61178309204148335192011-07-27T07:11:11.904-04:002011-07-27T07:11:11.904-04:00Compared to the post about Australia I’m happy to ...Compared to the post about Australia I’m happy to see a post wich has body.<br />I welcome all the cited articles with open arms because I am looking at reality with fly eyes; the more info, the more refined the image becomes(see my comment at "BBC Where Art Thou").<br /> Probably for (editorial? / Commercial?) reasons, The Atlantic article is as short as this post and is really substandard.<br />Ambassadors are extremely well educated to defend the interests of their country and Eastern imperturbability should be a plus in the diplomatic affairs.<br />But since last year we can see that China's representatives suddenly more and more lose their diplomatic coolness.<br />So, very recently, Beijing's representative in Harare fulminated, not against the Western press, but against the Zimbabwean press.<br />http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/zimbabwe/8596-china-attacks-zimbabwean-private-media.html<br /><br />What is written in the Zimbabwean press about the Chinese presence is easy to discover in the Internet age (for everyone who want to spend a little time) following it daily or checking it retroactively. Please have also a look at all the comments of the readers!<br />Unfortunately, besides neocolonial mechanisms, racism is also playing a major role.<br />That China wants to put a stop to this is easy to understand and just proves the correctness of the African reports about those relations.<br />Incidentally, I see it as business as usual: China has very often been very proactive to respond to all kind of events. But when it comes to social relations between Africans and Chinese people it will always wait till the public opinion could turn against China and thus its greater interests might be affected.<br />A recent ans simple example is after the shooting in the Collum mine when the embassy took the necessary steps to silence the victims rather than to do anything to have better labor relations at the mine itself.<br />Rather than quoting in this context the article by quoting Veneranda Langa the following article seems to me beeing more relevant because it place the issue in a broader context.<br />http://www.newsday.co.zw/article/2011-06-13-chinese-slave-drivers-must-be-stopped<br /><br />Every day you may notice a similarity between China's actions in Africa, SE Asia, the small Pacific Islands, the Caribbean and some countries in Latin America, but only in Africa racism plays a major role.<br />The use of the term "slave traders" is therefore obvious when a worker is literally beaten.<br />Imagine for once that we were talking about a Westerner and the Western press would reveal that an English foreman of eg Unilever hit his Congolese laborers because they were not able to understand his English explanations of how they had to win palm oil?<br />Should not all the NGOs of the world tumble upon Unilever, who should be lucky to escape a consumer boycott and would p m Cameron not have to set up one government study commission at least?<br />Maybe not, but I bet it is same to assume that no UK government delegation would be necessary to hold seminars for the Unilever Congo management encouraging them to live harmoniously with UK nationals locals in an effort to boost relations between the two countries.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-65025247383858497492011-07-27T07:07:38.500-04:002011-07-27T07:07:38.500-04:00I have less space here than Max Fisher in The Atla...I have less space here than Max Fisher in The Atlantic, so only a short one on the Defence College, again because of its wider context ... ..<br />http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article1101429.ece/Chinese-deal-just-for-elite<br />If you want to track how you do not want to be treated by the Chinese, in your own country, (and this applies not not just to workers, but what do you think of only 4 hours of electricity per day, an never seen hyperinflation, a near halving of your lifeexpectancy ...) I have only one advice for you: take a few months using any news aggregator to see what is happening in Zimbabwe. Even if you do have solid reasons to believe that in such a case you belong to the elite that could benefit, it is encouraging to see how the sky is the limit for the Mugabe crony boys ...<br /><br />What will not immediately become obvious is how China is organizing this socio-economic imbalances for its own benefit. Every time I see it, I think of Bernard Tapie, and every Frenchman will understand me; you buy on the cheap from a conterparty who is nearly broke…<br />And as always China is following the politics of his great teacher, the U.S.; listen to my words (for external consumption only), but don’t look to my actions (for internal consumption only).<br />Zimbabwe must, thanks to Chinese aid and/or contracts produce for the export (tobacco, chrome, diamonds…), while China is nursing its own industry very often through export bans and as soon as practicable, commodity markets for many products (gold, copper, zinc, fuel oil , aluminum to corn) and markets for linked derivative products are created producing worldclass turnover…<br /><br />For when are the seminars scheduled in which China Inc. will fraternally explain to the Zimbabweans how to imitate the Chinese rare earth politics, so the proceedings of the Zimbabwean tobacco, diamonds, platinum, chromium, can be maximalized? <br />I hope their delay has nothing to do with the fact that China Inc has a plan, to lead the market for ferro chrome, by jumping over the head of South Africa?<br />danAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-74154768964335049482011-07-26T19:50:55.263-04:002011-07-26T19:50:55.263-04:00"Mugabe is an appalling leader."
He is...."Mugabe is an appalling leader."<br /><br />He is. I think you need to seriously address the questions of why he is able to retain power, and the cost of in human suffering as long as he does so. Hint: China has rather a lot to do with both.<br /><br />A Chinese delegation sent in response to complaints of worker mistreatment is eye candy for the apologists. When Beijing stops supplying the likes of Mugabe with the instruments and finances that keep him in power (just where China wants him), then we may have cause to say that China is taking the concerns of ordinary African citizens seriously.<br /><br />The Atlantic may have skewed a few points in their article, but highlighting the real potential of Africans to fall victim to neo-colonialism out of Beijing is a job well done. This side of the Sino-African story is more important than the 'China-builds-road-for- friend-in-Africa' approach. It's also - quite rightly - not in the nature of a (free) media to focus on the 'grip & grin' propaganda stuff. We should leave that to Xinhua.<br /><br />Cue 50-centers.Stuarthttp://foundinchina.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189930829940284211.post-2265863706655205182011-07-26T03:57:51.478-04:002011-07-26T03:57:51.478-04:00Hi Deborah,
Just wanted to say that i enjoy your ...Hi Deborah,<br /><br />Just wanted to say that i enjoy your comments and insight. For those of use working elsewhere in Sub-Saharan African Africa, these observations, while subtly different from where i work, are very similar to the processes you describe as part of the blog. <br /><br />Thanks for keeping us posted!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com