Chinese takeover of Africa

[Paradoxium]

How China's taking over Africa, and why the West should be VERY worried

With little fanfare, a staggering 750,000 Chinese have settled in Africa over the past decade. More are on the way.

The strategy has been carefully devised by officials in Beijing, where one expert has estimated that China will eventually need to send 300 million people to Africa to solve the problems of over-population and pollution.

Massive dams are being built, flooding nature reserves. The land is scarred with giant Chinese mines, with 'slave' labourers paid less than £1 a day to extract ore and minerals.

Pristine forests are being destroyed, with China taking up to 70 per cent of all timber from Africa.

Exclusive, gated compounds, serving only Chinese food, and where no blacks are allowed, are being built all over the continent. 'African cloths' sold in markets on the continent are now almost always imported, bearing the legend: 'Made in China'.

However, there is a lethal price to pay. There is a sinister aspect to this invasion. Chinese-made war planes roar through the African sky, bombing opponents. Chinese-made assault rifles and grenades are being used to fuel countless murderous civil wars, often over the materials the Chinese are desperate to buy.

Take, for example, Zimbabwe. Recently, a giant container ship from China was due to deliver its cargo of three million rounds of AK-47 ammunition, 3,000 rocket-propelled grenades and 1,500 mortars to President Robert Mugabe's regime.

After an international outcry, the vessel, the An Yue Jiang, was forced to return to China, despite Beijing's insistence that the arms consignment was a 'normal commercial deal'.

Indeed, the 77-ton arms shipment would have been small beer - a fraction of China's help to Mugabe. He already has high-tech, Chinese-built helicopter gunships and fighter jets to use against his people.

There have also been riots in Zambia, Angola and Congo over the flood of Chinese immigrant workers. The Chinese do not use African labour where possible, saying black Africans are lazy and unskilled.

In Angola, the government has agreed that 70 per cent of tendered public works must go to Chinese firms, most of which do not employ Angolans.

Where will it all end? As far as Beijing is concerned, it will stop only when Africa no longer has any minerals or oil to be extracted from the continent

I don't see any stopping of it. Interesting article.

Stuck somewhere in the article this line really sticks out: "According to one veteran diplomat: 'China is easier to do business with because it doesn't care about human rights in Africa - just as it doesn't care about them in its own country. All the Chinese care about is money.'

 

[Dr. Evil]

It'll end up backfiring on the Chinese as it had with the Europeans.

 

[Pink Ranger]

How exactly did it backfire against Europeans? I'm genuinely interested in your interpretation: apartheid was an abomination and is thankfully over, but outside of Zimbabwe I can't think of too many Vietnam/Afghanistan analogies that apply to Europe's colonizing of Africa. White South Africans are still there and thriving, for instance (it's not perfect for them, but nothing ever is).

 

[Dr. Evil]

How exactly did it backfire against Europeans? I'm genuinely interested in your interpretation: apartheid was an abomination and is thankfully over, but outside of Zimbabwe I can't think of too many Vietnam/Afghanistan analogies that apply to Europe's colonizing of Africa. White South Africans are still there and thriving, for instance (it's not perfect for them, but nothing ever is).

Well, it mainly backfired on Portugal, who lost Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and Sao Tome and Principe because they kept it for way too long when the British, French and Belgians had already left. Except for the British in Zimbabwe, Portugal was the main European force in Africa left by 1965 and they weren't going to give up their African colonies without a fight.

Countries like Nigeria (British), Senegal (French) and the DR Congo (Belgian) were granted independence. The Portuguese African colonies gained their independence through violence and war.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

This is the reason people have opposed imperialism in the past.

The explotation of people and their natural resources.

China needs to unload people. They want to send 300 million people to Africa (that's America's population!). They figured they'll get rid of millions of people and get Afica's natural riches at the same time.

The scary part is that they'll probably have armed forces there eventually who protect Chinese locals and oppress the native populations who are treated as second class citizens.

It's sad the Chinese learned nothing from WWII when they were invaded by Japanese who felt they wer superior.

 

[Paradoxium]

Not really (White South Africans). A lot of whites are jetting that place from what I hear. Because? Laws that force 50% business ownership with someone black. In other cases, intimidating white business owners / farmers to "giveaway" their farms, or give a huge cut ala mafia style. After running out the white farmers, they have new black farmers come in who don't know **** about farming, resulting in mini-famines.

In many ways, I'd argue South Africa is more oppressive than the apartheid. In other words, outfailing a fail. Now you have the Chinese government exploit this. I would argue they are more ruthless and non-scrupulous than the whites.

And what is anyone going to do? They "own" America nowadays given the debt situation (which continues to climb) and couldn't give less of a **** about the denunciation of Human Rights Activists.

This is (defacto) democracy in action.

 

[Raiden]

This is the reason people have opposed imperialism in the past.

The explotation of people and their natural resources.

China needs to unload people. They want to send 300 million people to Africa (that's America's population!). They figured they'll get rid of millions of people and get Afica's natural riches at the same time.

The scary part is that they'll probably have armed forces there eventually who protect Chinese locals and oppress the native populations who are treated as second class citizens.

It's sad the Chinese learned nothing from WWII when they were invaded by Japanese who felt they wer superior.

With a booming economy, world-class military force, and billions of citizens that need to be fed, China is fast becoming an imperialist nation. I think this "invasion" of Africa is just the beginning.

 

[Pink Ranger]

Well, it mainly backfired on Portugal, who lost Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and Sao Tome and Principe because they kept it for way too long when the British, French and Belgians had already left. Except for the British in Zimbabwe, Portugal was the main European force in Africa left by 1965 and they weren't going to give up their African colonies without a fight.

Countries like Nigeria (British), Senegal (French) and the DR Congo (Belgian) were granted independence. The Portuguese African colonies gained their independence through violence and war.

Fair enough, I know little about Portugese colonial history, so thanks for that.

I was thinking more in terms of the British and French (and maybe Dutch), and while they now don't control directly much of Africa anymore, the profound impact you currently see of British and French cultures on Africa is nothing to sneeze at (not saying it's right or wrong, just that I find it hard to state it as an error on their part).

China, on the other hand, it should be interesting to witness over the next few decades. Their goals differ from that of the old European colonists in a few major ways.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

The "we can't hire blacks because they're lazy and unskilled" reason is just an excuse to move job hungry Chinese into Africa and out of China.

Blacks aren't lazy but we don't like breaking our backs for peanuts as some expect us to.

 

[Dr. Evil]

With a booming economy, world-class military force, and billions of citizens that need to be fed, China is fast becoming an imperialist nation. I think this "invasion" of Africa is just the beginning.

I would think that the Chinese targets are Africa, Latin America and Asia. They may invest in businesses in The United States, Europe, Australia and Canada, but they won't do the same to those countries like they do with Africa.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Not really (White South Africans). A lot of whites are jetting that place from what I hear. Because? Laws that force 50% business ownership with someone black. In other cases, intimidating white business owners / farmers to "giveaway" their farms, or give a huge cut ala mafia style. After running out the white farmers, they have new black farmers come in who don't know **** about farming, resulting in mini-famines.

In many ways, I'd argue South Africa is more oppressive than the apartheid. In other words, outfailing a fail. Now you have the Chinese government exploit this. I would argue they are more ruthless and non-scrupulous than the whites.

And what is anyone going to do? They "own" America nowadays given the debt situation (which continues to climb) and couldn't give less of a **** about the denunciation of Human Rights Activists.

This is (defacto) democracy in action.

The blacks demand whites share 50% of businesses. The apartied shut out blacks 100% of the time. Whites are getting taxed, blacks were shut out completely and oppressed systematically.

I don't see how apartied was any better.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

I would think that the Chinese targets are Africa, Latin America and Asia. They may invest in businesses in The United States, Europe, Australia and Canada, but they won't do the same to those countries like they do with Africa.

I don't see how China could take over Latin America.

 

[Dr. Evil]

I don't see how China could take over Latin America.

Well maybe not take over, but be heavily invested in businesses over there. Most of Latin America opposes the United States, so they look elsewhere for investment. Russia and China are two of those countries. I don't think that China will take over Latin America from a "colonial" standpoint, more of a business standpoint, IMO.

 

[Paradoxium]

The blacks demand whites share 50% of businesses. The apartied shut out blacks 100% of the time. Whites are getting taxed, blacks were shut out completely and oppressed systematically.

I don't see how apartied was any better.

They demand 50% arbitrarily and think nothing of the consequences.

An overwhelming part of their economy was white driven. In reality most of the most competent owners opted to leave than share. Now gone, you get less tax revenues which could have otherwise facilitate basic infrastructure like courts and law enforcement. The level of violence and crime is worse now. At the very least you could have tried some transition - no serious attempt was made.

As I pointed out, they are chasing out white farmers without even getting them to train their replacement, and thus resulting in famines. Actual consequences matter more than emotionally appeal of retribution. Just because they are no longer ruled by some white minority, does it mean the reality is any better. It isn't. And don't twist this as "the white rule is betterz". My point is things got worse and it is not improving anytime soon.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Yes the apartied was more effective as a police state. They needed to in order to enforce unfair practices on the majority.

I'd take a higher crime rate over a police state that shut out and oppressed the majority of the population. These days both blacks and whites can achieve success if they work hard enough. During the days of the apartied the black majority was shut out completely and there was a police state to keep it that way. Yes crime was lower but racial injustice was way up.

 

[Dr. Evil]

300 Million Chinese in Africa? Good lord. That'll be more than the Chinese population in all of North America (United States and Canada).

 

[Hobodeluxe]

kinda like the Jews and Palestine.

 

[Paradoxium]

Yes the apartied was more effective as a police state. They needed to in order to enforce unfair practices on the majority.

I'd take a higher crime rate over a police state that shut out and oppressed the majority of the population. These days both blacks and whites can achieve success if they work hard enough. During the days of the apartied the black majority was shut out completely and there was a police state to keep it that way. Yes crime was lower but racial injustice was way up.

All I see is South Africa traded overt white rulers, for a more ruthless Chinese rule. That is they rule by proxy using incredibly corrupt and inept black leaders against their own people. Turning blacks on other blacks. With all the goodies of helicopters and ak47s at their disposal, and none of the benefits of stable law enforcement and order; just greater violence and crime. All the while they rape African's land of resources and labor at a faster rate and efficiency than the whites, and are ten times more immoral. At least some of the whites felt an iota of guilt, I seriously doubt the Chinese give a **** outside of the bottom line. They are not responsible for running anything overtly (don't have to take as much heat) and don't even want that task - just the land and resources - which makes this even more disturbing.

But at least you can say they are not white. That's about the only concession you get. Call crazy but I think that is a **** deal. And the worst part is people voted for the current conditions.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

China isn't even going in South Africa really. Their priority is poorer countries, rich with natural resources.

and I lol'd at you "10 times more immoral than whites' estimate. These are the same whites that oppressed an entire population because of their race while claiming their land and natural resources.

 

[Scourge2099]

This article is nothing new folks. China's been interested in Africa since the 1970s. There's also a growing African population in China so it goes both ways.

 

[Kelly]

Look at Sudan's history of the last 20 years. China has done some "grand" things there....


*insert sarcasm* anywhere you want....its filled with it.

 

[Scourge2099]

Sudan's conflict has nothing to do with Chinese influence. It was happening before China ever came to Africa. Blame the British for it because they planted the seeds when Sudan was part of their empire. I don't care much for the Chicoms , but they did not cause the northern Sudanese to hate the southerners .

 

[Kelly]

Sure ok.....


Just one source....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7503428.stm

well, maybe a few more....

http://www.cfr.org/publication/9557/china_africa_and_oil.html

10 minute lesson...

 

[Scourge2099]

That's in recent history. Where's the BBC's report that the conflict was caused when the British colonial overlords favored the southern Christian Sudanese over the northern Muslim Sudansese ? Then when independence was granted the north decided to get revenge on the south. God forbid the British actually acknowledge their role in that conflict.

 

[Kelly]

The other two sources are educational...