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China Security Summer 2007: China's Rise in Africa

21 August 2007

Chinese scholars and experts analyze the many facets of the burgeoning relationship between Africa and China: the good and the bad, the challenges and opportunities, in the Summer 2007 'China Security' journal.

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China Security

Vol 3 No 3 Summer 2007

China's Rise in Africa

The West's role in Africa over the past decades, embodied mostly by well-intentioned though often erratic and contradictory assistance and resource-focused trade, has produced mixed results. Progress on the African continent has been made in some regions while others have experienced unprecedented chaos. Enter China. In the past 15 years or so, China has engaged the nations of Africa fast and furiously. China claims to bring a distinctive model in working with African nations, one focused more on self-interested yet equal trade, sustainable and non-charitable aid, underwritten by principles of noninterference rather than demands of accountability and political reform. Four authors from China and the United States discuss the many facets of this burgeoning relationship between Africa and China: the good and the bad, the challenges and opportunities, the signs of hope as well as the retreats to practices that stymie Africa from reaching its potential. The jury is still out on whether China's model will ultimately differ from that of the West or indeed be successful, as these articles detail. What is certain, however, is that China's enhanced commitment in Africa will not only profoundly impact Africa itself but the strategic relations between China and the United States.

Energy and Conflict

Also in this issue, two authors sketch in bold relief the nature and timing of oil competition as a trigger for conflict between China and the United States. They bring together a number of theoretical concepts to broadly outline a real scenario of how this could happen. Their analysis is valuable, perhaps less because of its predictive powers for Sino-U.S. conflict, and more as a stern warning that U.S.-China energy relations must be carefully managed.

North Korea's Nuclear Test

Lastly, we revisit North Korea's October 2006 nuclear test. The author, a Chinese nuclear weapons policy expert, suggests that if successful, the nuclear test may have important implications not only for nuclear weapon miniaturization but the reach of North Korea's nuclear weapons mated with known missiles.

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China Security is a policy journal that brings diverse Chinese perspectives to Washington on vital traditional and nontraditional security issues that impact China's strategic development and its relations with the United States.

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Assessing China's Growing Influence in Africa, by Bates Gill, Chin-hao Huang & J. Stephen Morrison
"Africa is seen as integral to Beijing's strategic ambition to advance a 'new security concept' that can ensure China's peaceful rise as a global power and strengthen relations with key neighbors and regions."

The Balancing Act of Chinas Africa Policy, by He Wenping
"China will need Africa's political and moral support to become a great power."

The Fact and Fiction of Sino-Africa Energy Relations, by Erica S. Downs
"China's national oil companies are not 'locking up' the lion's share of African oil as part of a centralized quest for energy."

China and Africa: Policies and Challenges, by Li Anshan
"Perhaps China's practice in Africa offers an alternative model for interstate behavior."

Oil and Conflict in Sino-American Relations, by Peter Hatemi & Andrew Wedeman
"If commercial competition for overseas oil supplies were to spill over into strategic tension, they would do so before China would have the military wherewithal to successfully challenge the United States."

Revisiting North Korea's Nuclear Test, by Zhang Hui
"The test may indicate that North Korea was pursuing a miniaturized warhead."

 

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