Infrastructure projects are crucial to China’s overall goal of getting access to Africa’s natural resources to power its economic engine. During the struggle against colonialism and the immediate period of the age of African independence in the 1960s and 1970s, China sought to back up its ideological support of African states with a measure of economic aid, focused on the building of infrastructure for the newly independence states. It is estimated that China provided more than 900 infrastructure projects to African states, including the railway between Tanzania and Zambia (TAZARA Railway) as the center piece of such demonstration projects (Ministry of Foreign Affairs – China pursues…, 2006). China’s economic aid in Africa was part of the cold war struggle for the “hearts and minds of Third World citizens”. China used its aid projects in Africa to convey the diplomatic message that it was on the side of the oppressed, and sought to strengthen alliances against the US and the USSR (Mooney 2005, p.1). Above all, spending on lavish infrastructure and prestige projects on the continent was meant to convey China’s interest in the continent, both as a partner in combating the negative influences of the cold war rivalry and undermining Taiwan’s quest for diplomatic recognition (Lyman, 2005, p.4). In addition to infrastructure, China focused on strengthening its credentials as a supporter of South- South economic interchange. This took the form of small scale technical cooperation, including provision of technical experts, training for African workers, cultural agreements and provision of scholarships for African students to study in Chinese universities. As Lammers (2007, p.2) points out, 15,000 Africans had graduated from Chinese insti...
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...ts out “… post-Tiananmen Square China remembered that Africa was a very useful support constituency if and when Beijing was in dispute with other global actors…” In the 1990s and the beginning of the new millennium, as China’s incorporation into the global economic intensified, along with its remarkable economic performance vis-à-vis the major economic powers, Africa became an appealing arena for resources and markets for this new economic power. China’s government seems to have made the strategic calculation of expanding its foreign direct investment into Africa to rely on its vast resource wealth. From a geo-economic perspective, the African continent presented opportunities for China’s extractive industries to meet the country’s resource needs. China has limited resources of oil and gas, accounting for only 2.3 and 0.9 per cent respectively (Nolan, 2004, p.246).
China is an economic power and the U.S. behaves with china because of security reason and China has the biggest U.S debt. If China decides to call it in it will have a huge impact in the U.S. economy and it will destroy its own economy as well. China is the second largest importer and exporter of the U.S. trade deals. The U.S sees china as a security concern because it has become very powerful and its economy is really big which can start investing in its military and increase threat and destabilize region and to U.S. allies such as Japan and South Korea. Furthermore, U.S sees china as a security because it has invested a lot in Africa because of its continental natural resources, and around 2007 the Congolese Government announced that China would bullied and refurbish rail ways, roads and mines in Congo at about $12 billion and china would benefit by mining copper ore and shows that it is dedicated to investing no matter how big the price tag would be in war torn countries. China has also invest in Nigeria by rebuilding its railroad system and is building a new railroad system. In Gabon it has paved almost 80 percent of its roads and Chinese firms are exploring for Oil and natural gas. The U.S and behaves negatively towards China as well because of currency manipulation and devaluing its currency to get and advantage in trade, as well as violations of Human Rights,
Bearing in mind that the threat of China’s dependency on imports of natural resources has the potential to threaten the official ideology of Confucianism, the real threat is to the interests of the state and the Communist Party of China, because the future of the party and stability of the country is dependent on the continued growth of the Chinese economy. Maintaining the flow of raw materials is the main objective of the PRC because without them the economic engine of the China would be at a stand still, which has the potential to be seen by the people of China as a weakness and flaws in the current governing system. China should continue developing trade relations and international connections because the PRC has been remarkably successful in creating a network of countries who will be loyal in business and political reform. China has has a strategic focus on building relations with nations whom America is not keen on. This has also perpetuated the realization the the Chinese system of governance provides a second option to the ‘Western Consensus’, as a viable means for successful economic growth coupled with strict government control. China must operate multilaterally to continue the trajectory of relation and loyalty building in other countries. This will assist china with the key pillar goals of, building a comprehensive national power; advance incrementally in order to consolidate a position of strength, and maintaining stability, and with the objective that China will be in the position to continue imports of raw material to Chinese industry in the event of a sea trade embargo from opposition countries like the United...
Post-Cold War Asia has been witness to a China that increasingly focuses its foreign policy on its neighbors rather than on a regional or global context. This stems from China's realization that free markets have triumphed over centrally planned economies and that a world revolution is not going to happen. This has two implications. One, China no longer needs to divert resources to involve itself in global politics since the proletarian revolution is not going to take place. Second, China needs to embark on a program of economic development and modernization (F. Wang p. 32 and J. Wang p. 80).
Probably one of the most recognized events of the 1980’s is the collapse of communism but first it is important to look at events that leading up to this collapse to provide a better context of events post collapse. One very significant period of time was the mid 1980’s when it seemed all eyes were on Africa in its entirety. The release of the song “We are the World” in 1985, the “Break the Chains” campaign of 1987, and the focus on the influential figure, Desmond Tutu, during 1986 are all examples of how the United States and other countries were focused on providing aid to africa. In her book, Enlightened Aid: U.S. Development as Foreign Policy in Ethiopia, Amanda McVety explains this aid and how United Sates foreign aid was a cold war project, “It offered a Cold War weapon that was not a weapon and promised peace through peaceful me...
It seems China’s interest in African countries is not in territorial occupation, but rather in international prominence and expanding its rapidly growing economic agenda. Kenya’s richness in commodities and weak commercial laws are an idealistic setting for rapid market entry, therefore China has been able to effortlessly influence and expand its mercantilist ambitions without distress of competition from the west. Even though the United States is focused in providing conditional aid to Kenya, the effects of Chinese expansion in Kenya on U.S. interest are alarming, for China is offering cold hard cash that is f...
China has a list of problems while maintaining one fifth of the world’s population. It covers around the same geographic area as the United States, but has twice the amount of problems, along with five times the amount of people. They have not had a lucrative past, and their future does not either. In order to fix such problems, the Chinese government has taken miniscule actions to further aid their country (Riley, China’s Population).
It is thought-provoking, in the sense that Africa’s need for foreign created a race to the bottom, much like what Pietra Rivoli described in The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy. Due to some African states’ reliance on foreign aid in order to mine and profit on their resources, they allow business standards to be lowered and for Chinese firms to tip the contracts moresoever in the favor of Chinese firms. This lowers the potential earnings of African states by lowering royalty rates, for example. Additionally, Burgis’ research was thorough and transparent. When he did not receive a response or if his questions were dodged, he made it obvious to the readers. Sure, some could view this book as too anecdotal to be used as a credible source of Africa’s situation. However, this is due to the nature of the system Burgis is writing about; after all, they are shadow states for a reason. Some readers will be saddened by this text, others angry, most curious to learn more, but above all, everyone will be intellectually stimulated and
The power of words is immeasurable. Words help people to voice their opinions and express their thoughts and feelings. Our everyday lives are shaped by communication and in general language. A persons language can often influence success and happiness. America is viewed as a melting pot for numerous different people and their respective languages. Language is so vital in our society that a person of diverse ethnic background can face many tribulations throughout their everyday life.
People use language as a material object. Language is social in nature and language helps people to convey a message. Language is how humans communicate with each other. Language empowers, language makes the person’s needs known and language expresses what the person wants people to do. Language is how people interact and language makes a person’s identity, emotions and opinions known. Language helps a child to make sense of their world. Language helps older children to interact and belong to a group, Language also helps a child to understand the field, tenor and mode in situations, so that the child can critically evaluate and organize the
From the beginning of their establishment, the bilateral relations between the United States of America and China have changed throughout the time. The bilateral relations of the two countries emerged from 1970’s with the ‘Ping-Pong’ diplomacy and there have been many pauses in their mutual relations. The US and China enjoyed cooperation in economic and military spheres and the mutual relations grew massively during until the end of 1990’s. The heads of the two states began visiting each other’s countries and the economic ties were tightening year by year. However, the issues of human rights and free speech declined mutual Sino-American relations. The American principle of democracy promotion and human rights protection minimized the Sino- American relations after the Tiananmen Square events in 1989, the US Presidents-George Bush and Bill Clinton- playing a key role in determining the further American foreign policy towards China.
It has been claimed that Western countries are becoming increasingly alarmed and uncomfortable by their deterioration of influence within African countries. This stems from the fact that they are aware that they are losing out to Africa’s resource rich opportunities, that are being made use of at large by China, who are progressively making ties with Africa, within a political, trade, infrastructural and natural resource-based context (Kermeliotis, 2011). Facts still remain that Western countries are still heavily connected to African countries, however the deepening Sino-African engagements are creating a “deep nervousness” in the west, says David Shinn, the former U.S. ambassador to Burkina Faso and Ethiopia (as cited in Kermiliotis, 2011). The data that backs up this unease show that between 2001 and 2007, trade between Africa and China increased by 681% to reach $73 billion (Rich and Recker, 2012). Furthermore, according to the OECD, when 2009 hit, China overtook the U.S. completely as Africa’s biggest trading partner, whereas, back in the year 2000, the U.S. was three times that of China, (Kermelioltis, 2011) therefore showing the huge scale of the Sino-African relationship and the short time in which it has developed. All this does however raise questions as to how it is regarded and how this impacts Western countries, and their stance as current superpowers. There is an obvious awareness of the Sino-African tie, but what are the consequences of this, and how will things change as a result, specifically in terms of the West? (Glennie, 2012). The main areas of focus to be discussed therefore involve, how and why are Western countries losing out on inv...
China's development is praised by the whole world. Its developments are not only in the economic aspect, but as well in its foreign affairs. Compared with other developed countries, China is a relatively young country. It began constructing itself in 1949. After 30 years of growth, company ownership had experienced unprecedented changes. Entirely, non-state-owned companies can now be more involved in sectors that used to be monopolized by state-owned companies.
Language is a part of our everyday lives, and we can describe the meaning of language in many ways. As suggested in Gee and Hayes (2011, p.6 ) people can view language as something in our minds or something existing in our world in the form of speech, audio recordings, and writings or we can view language as a way of communicating with a group of people. Language can be used to express our emotions, make sense of our mental and abstract thoughts and assists us in communicating with others around us. Language is of vital importance for children to enable them to succeed in school and everyday life. Everyone uses both oral and written language. Language developed as a common ability amongst human beings with the change
Located in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia is the second most populated country in Africa. It has the tenth largest land mass in Africa (nearly twice the size of Texas), a population of approximately ninety-one million people (CIA 2013), and a rural to urban population ration of approximately 6 to 1 (Abelti, et al. 2012). Like other nations in sub-Saharan Africa, Ethiopia suffers from many of the same social factors that have deepened inequality across the continent. Poverty is widespread; access to quality education and healthcare is inadequate; modern infrastructure and improved sanitation are inconsistent or non-existent (Abelti, et al. 2012). Other high-risk factors have also been present, such as extended conflicts involving the long term mobilization of armed forces, governmental and political instability, and gender inequality (McInnes 2011). This forced Ethiopia, like many of its African neighbors, to turn to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) for foreign aid and with it, the neoliberal policies and structural adjustment programs that have been so instrumental in deepening inequality in the Global South. Although previous governmental transitions had caused considerable political instability within Ethiopia, the nation possesses a strong central government allowing Ethiopia to resist many of the IMF’s recommendations and seek funding from alternative sources, such as China, to pursue massive infrastructure development within Ethiopia (Giorgis 2013). In this paper, I will discuss the controversy surrounding one of these development projects, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, and how it has shaped – or has been shaped by – inequality.
Language is used to communicate in our daily lives and routines. Language helps people write, speak, read, and actively communicate with one another. Language also tends to build community; with that we gain a sense of belonging within others around us. Through language we can relate with other people and fit in with our personal experiences. The importance of language allows us to interact with all other parts of the world in an effective way. I love the language I speak, I wouldn’t change it for anything, it is part of who I am, it is part of my identity.