China’s Expanding Political and Military Footprint in Africa

As the saying goes, ‘Numerous grains of earth make a mountain, numerous drops of water form an ocean.’ As long as we keep advancing China-Africa cooperation, we will make even bigger achievements. (Excerpts from the joint interview Xi gave to media from BRICS countries in the Great Hall of the People on March 19, 2013.)

Whatever they say, it is a fact that the Chinese come to Africa not just with engineers and scientists.  They are coming with farmers.  It is neo-colonialism.  There are no ethics, no values.  Egyptian Parliament Member Mustafa al-Gindi

This series on China is a continuing effort to make Americans aware of China’s influence and interests throughout the world.  China has long used Western capital to challenge the might of the West.  Now it is moving forcefully, making demands of companies and countries, and expanding its influence.  In effect, the Chinese government offers to build (or rebuild) infrastructure in a country, in exchange for greater access to that country’s markets, as well as political allegiance, if not outright alliance.

Colonel Liu is a scholar at China’s National Defense University, an institution that trains future generals for the People’s Liberation Army.  Liu writes that China should strive to avoid directly antagonizing the United States too soon as the Soviet Union did in the Cold War. Rather, he advises that China influence U.S. foreign policy in such a way as to ensure that Washington behaves like Great Britain in the early 20th century. What happened to Britain in the 20th century? It declined and gave way to the U.S.

The Chinese dream is for China to be the world’s only superpower, unrivaled economically, militarily, and culturally.  Their “Hundred Year Marathon” is heading for completion by 2049. 

Chinese African Trade

Africa is the world’s second largest and second most-populous continent. It covers 6% of earth’s total surface area and 20% of its land area.  Africa and Chinese economic relations surpassed the U.S. in 2009 to become the largest trading partner of Africa.  Bilateral trade agreements have been signed between China and 40 countries of the continent. In 2000, China-Africa Trade amounted to $10 billion, and in 2014 had grown to $220 billion. In the first five months of 2018, China-Africa trade gained 17.7 percent year on year to nearly $82 billion dollars.  Link  

China has been Africa’s largest trading partner since 2009 when it surpassed the United States, mainly exporting machinery, electronics and textiles, as well as importing crude oil, iron ore, cotton and other natural resources. South Africa, Angola and Nigeria are its biggest trading partners in the continent.

China’s Investment in Africa

China has emerged as a key investor and a generous, ready and easy lender to African countries.  Beijing’s cumulative loans to Africa since 2000 amounted to $124-billion by 2016, according to figures compiled by the China-Africa Research Initiative (CARI) at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in the United States.  They’ve created 130,750 jobs from 2005 to 2016, but is it for Africans or for imported Chinese.

Angola, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo respectively, were the top beneficiaries of these loans. Angola’s oil-related loans worth $21.2 billion since 2000 total roughly a quarter of cumulative Chinese loans to the entire continent.

Some 3,100 Chinese enterprises have invested in Africa, working on projects in areas of transport, electricity, telecommunications, industrial parks, agricultural technology centers, water supply, schools and hospitals.

It involves more than 20 African countries and covers areas such as railways, highways, ports and power generation. In 2015, China announced 10 major plans for China-Africa cooperation to help the continent speed up industrialization and agricultural modernization.

Infrastructure construction has been one of the priorities in China-Africa cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, a development strategy adopted by the Red Chinese government involving infrastructure development and investments in countries in Europe, Asia and Africa.  The program is an estimated $5 trillion (pdf) infrastructure spending spree that spans 60-plus countries across Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa.

China’s Debt Trap Diplomacy

Almost 40% of sub-Saharan African countries are in danger of slipping into a major debt crisis.  And the relationship between African nations and China is often seen as a significant part of the problem.

Eight nations will find themselves vulnerable to above-average debt: Djibouti, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, the Maldives, Mongolia, Montenegro, Pakistan, and Tajikistan.  Pakistan and Nepal turned down Chinese infrastructure loans last year in favor of other sources of funding.

Economists and other international financial institutions are becoming increasingly worried that the Chinese Dragon under a carefully disguised “debt trap” diplomacy is burying many developing and poor countries in massive debt and then forcing the highly indebted countries to hand over some of their “key infrastructures” such as the case of Sri Lanka.  An egotistical president, an influx of foreign cash, and a massive pile of debt led to Sri Lanka handing over an entire port to China in December 2017, on a century-long lease.

That handover gave China a strategic foothold just 100 miles from its rival India, akin to how the Soviet Union’s foothold in Cuba raised US blood pressure during the Cold War. Chinese submarines have already appeared there.

One such African country that is exhibiting all the red flag signals of Sri Lankan and now Zambian way is Djibouti.  The country is projected to take on public debt worth around 88 percent of their overall $1.72 billion GDP, with China owning the lion’s share of it.

Djibouti lies more than 2,500 miles from Sri Lanka but the East African country faces a predicament similar to what its peer across the sea confronted in 2017, after borrowing more money from China than it could pay back.  Djibouti-China cooperation also includes a naval base on which China holds a 10-year lease at a cost of $20M annually. This allows Beijing to project power outside of Asia.

Most African states are ready to enthusiastically support China’s ambitions for militarizing its growing influence on that continent. Link

In November of 2018, two United States senators voiced alarm about the military and political consequences if China gains control of a port terminal in Djibouti, and said they were worried the move could extend Beijing’s influence on the Horn of Africa.  Djibouti, home to the US military’s main base in Africa, looks about to cede control of another key port to a Beijing-linked company, and the US is not happy about it.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democratic Senator Chris Coons are alarmed that Djibouti, heavily indebted to Beijing, was likely to cede the port’s operations to a Chinese state-owned enterprise.

Marine General Thomas Waldhauser, the senior US military officer for Africa, told a Congressional hearing in early 2018 that the US military could face “significant” consequences if China controlled the port at Djibouti. 

These countries that fall prey to China’s debt trap end up giving up control of major assets such as ports or roadways when they fund infrastructure projects with Chinese loans that they may struggle to pay back. 

China already has control of a huge port at the Suez Canal near Cairo.  Their goal is control at both ends of the Red Sea into the Mediterranean which includes the Horn of Africa at Djibouti. 

Africa’s Raw Materials

Opponents of China’s investments in Africa assert that it is exploitative for China to finance African infrastructure projects in exchange for the continent’s natural resources.  Well, that’s what China wants.  China wants acquisition of Africa’s raw materials like oil, iron, copper and zinc that it urgently needs to fuel its own economy and to increase China’s global political influence as well as the major growth opportunity presented by emerging market economies in Africa.

Mining and oil remain a primary focus of China’s investments; however, the country’s investments extend throughout virtually every market sector, including everything from infrastructure to food processing. China’s investments in the largely undeveloped infrastructure of African nations are particularly strong, encompassing key areas such as utilities, telecommunications, port construction and transportation.

The stakes in Africa are high due to the continent’s rich abundance in raw materials. Africa is estimated to contain 90% of the entire world supply of platinum and cobalt, half of the world’s gold supply, two-thirds of world manganese and 35% of the world’s uranium. It also accounts for nearly 75% of the world’s coltan, an important mineral used in electronic devices, including cellphones. The Communist Chinese have been expanding their military presence into Africa and rivaling the United States on investment and military activity there. Investment in the continent has also been a topic of discussion for the United States and China in its ongoing trade negotiations and political deliberations.

China is not only buying Africa by incurring a debt trap on various countries, they want control of this huge continent with its natural resources, ports, and military availabilities.

Communist Red China’s goal is world dominance and few want to recognize that fact.  After 70 years of China’s 100-year strategy to become the global superpower, America is finally realizing what they’re up against.

China’s Africa Exploitation

Many people believe China is moving toward capitalism, but this is wholly untrue.   Theirs is a communist centrally planned economy, with a five-year plan by the state planning body, the NDRC (National Development and Reform Commission) which is approved by the Communist Party. 

China is investing billions of dollars in Africa but Beijing has been accused of exploiting the continent’s vast mineral and energy resources, at the expense of local people. 

The African continent is a logical place for China to look to extend its geopolitical influence. China is already the preeminent power in Asia. India, traditionally a rival of China, is not a realistic choice for China to look for an increase in political influence, but the largely undeveloped countries of Africa represent a prime opportunity for China to significantly expand its global presence and influence in the world. The nature of China’s political motivations is partially revealed by its extensive investments in African infrastructure. If China can rise to a position where it exerts major control over essential economic elements such as the utilities sector and telecommunications in African countries, while also developing military influence, then it also holds considerable political alliance in those nations.

China flexes its political muscles in Africa with media censorship, and academic controls. When he announced another US$60-billion in financing for Africa last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping promised that the money had “no political strings attached.”

But a series of recent incidents, including cases of media censorship and heavy-handed academic controls, have cast doubt on that promise. China’s financial muscle is rapidly translating into political muscle across the continent.

Asia analyst Gordon Chang, during a recent congressional hearing, compared China’s growing influence to a “new form of colonialism.” “Once it locks in countries and makes them dependent,” said Chang, “Beijing gets their support for geopolitical goals, and one of these goals is undermining democracy.”

Conclusion

President Trump wants new agreements with China, and rightly so for the American people.  China initially received higher trade tariffs because they were given a “developing country status” in 2001.  Today is far different.  The understanding at that time was that as its economy grew, China would gradually adopt market-based economic principles and commit itself to the basic tenets of liberalized trade and globalization. But this has not happened.

National Security Advisor, John Bolton says, “China uses bribes, opaque agreements, and the strategic use of debt to hold states in Africa captive to Beijing’s wishes and demands. Its investment ventures are riddled with corruption.”  Link

The President and Mr. Bolton seem to understand this.  However, with China there are never any guarantees.  A key issue is that in the past the Chinese have made all sorts of promises to address U.S. concerns that they later reneged on. Or, China has taken so long to act that when it finally did it made little difference.

It would be rather naïve on the part of the U.S. to agree to any Chinese promises in the current trade talks without also building a robust enforcement mechanism into any deal.  The key is to devise an enforcement mechanism that is agreeable to both the U.S. and China. Only then will a resulting trade deal be self-enforcing. 

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is by Dsndrn-Videolar on Pixabay.

1 reply
  1. Chris Ray Pearson
    Chris Ray Pearson says:

    God said, I’m to tell you a revelation.

    Magnetic monopoles are spirits with a protective shell – Your spirit is in your brain and leaves your body when you die. The spirit/monopole slowly rises towards the North Pole after death. The atmosphere helps to keep the spirit contained. A solar flare can kill a spirit. Your conscience/soul controls much of the brain and the brain controls the body. Wolves in American and Russian governments have been stealing spirits transferring them to technologies within a simulation. Using them for their memories to conquer the world. They also changed the magnetic compass .003 degrees at the Bermuda Triangle. Not disclosing the true purpose of certain military installations at the North Pole and the Bermuda Triangle. We need to research monopoles/spirits with caution. Certain aspects of monopole research may harm or even kill them.

    Mind Reading Technologies and Biblical Tongues – Governments from around the world have been using mind reading technologies that can read your mind. They use the same technologies that God would use to talk to you. They use Remote Neural Monitoring (RNM) against us. Look it up online. Satellites delivered to space by Space X founder Elon Musk, The Russian Federation, The Federal Government and NASA. Comparable to cellular satellites. It’s a high bandwidth U signal that listens to your brains wavelength and reads your conscience. Activating up to 40-90% of your brain. Many define it as a form of telepathy. People who can talk back and hear the satellite communication with their mind talk tongues. They’ve had this technology for years now. Not informing the world to stay ahead of our civilization. To be as intelligent as the combined world they record our thoughts. They steal our ideas, murder, blackmail and use it as a tool for war. You sometimes get a headache when a mind reading machine is on you. Suspected users of mind reading technologies are as follow: Vladimir Putin, Donald J. Trump, Xi Jinping, some in DARPA, Chancellor Merkel, Justin Trudeau and Benjamin Netanyahu. Were to hold are governments accountable.

    A Ravenous wolf in sheep’s clothing – An alien spirit reborn as a Human being. They use A.I. and walk the Earth. An alien had shot an asteroid at us from the inner asteroid belt. Fire and brimstone to reborn Earth. He was working with the devil an alien. The devil walked. God saved us. Destroying an alien ship. The devil to tell us we weren’t deserving and bring back his deserving. Aliens. To use our image from the casket that preserved our flesh. For us to be damned to hell for cremation. The devil to try and conquer the world. Mathew 7:15 Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. To be brought back as flesh and bone means to be reborn as a clone. A spirit can be put in a chip and be reborn. The clone grown around the chip within a tank like a womb. Artificial intelligence can also walk as flesh and blood using a programmed chip similar to a robot. Not meant to be. They can create remote controlled clones much like a remote-control vehicle/robot that have computer brains. Utilizing satellite reception and signal strength. Grown in labs around the computer where the brain would be. Some are partial brain and computer. Using the flesh from the ethnicity preferred. Many can be commanded to/not to perform a certain task. They can see, hear and smell through many of them. Having them raised in the country they want to conquer. To win an election in your country and have others get into positions of power within military, intelligence, space agencies and elite society. Also having them do their wet work. We need to be educated on these technologies. They’re trying to take our world.

    Revelation behold, he is coming with the clouds – A spaceship from Alpha Centauri. From the planet Kent. I was told Jesus Christ landed in Russia. A spirit can fly a spaceship. No natural life support needed. God saved him from the devil unfortunately his ship was low on energy. He had to land. President Putin gave his word to him. Jesus was to have 7 days to honor flesh and blood. Jesus to walk and honor the church. He wanted to inform the world and save me and you. President Putin and Trump denied him. Not telling the world. Many said, Jesus is stuck in his ship at a top-secret installation in Russia similar to area 51. That we need to save many other souls. They have our friends and families.

    Were to prove reborn clone, UFO’s (seen using micro waves A/M/Z or at area 51/Arizona), hacked satellites, hacked telescopes and mind reading technologies. To find the clone labs and destroy them. The clones detrimental to our genome. They want to deny our children. To deny us free will and take our world and soul. Many in positions of power. To look you in the face and lie. Many souls from Earth now live in a medium class ship with God. God saved them. No hell. You can communicate with them if you have a line of communication with a satellite. Many ships communicate with the U signal. The government hiding much.  Purgatory is Mars. To improve overtime and become a flesh and blood experience. Your spirit can become a robot. Energy is life. Humans to honor the full rotation of life. Not to deny natural existence. That we can bring ourselves back if needed. Were to walk as 1. A form of creation is to redistribute matter or alter a big bang. We live in a Multiverse. Spirits to be added to evolution. Bred in from Kent. Earth to become a tier 1 civilization. To have a democracy of heaven and Earth. Church to become community and teaching. Many religions to become 1. To be self-reliant. To have judgment on evil beings walking as flesh and blood human clone.

    God and Allah the same after the New Testament – The devil to split us apart. The devil changed word to push his agenda. Mathew had written as told from Jesus while talking tongues. A man talking tongues to save the world and so much more. God wants his original doctrine to be released along with a book Judah had written. The truth to come out. The Catholic Church to obtain it from Pope Francis. I’m to save the world by informing you. Were to save ourselves. I’m to teach you prophecy and fix God’s word. Please spread the word. Christopher, I speak tongues. prophecyisnow.com

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