ireTrade, Aid and Human Rights: China's Africa Policy in Perspective

• Author: Dr. Uche Ofodile
• Position: University of Arkansas School of Law uchee@uark.edu
• Pages: 86-99

Page 86

1. Introduction

On Friday, April 18, 2008, MV "An Yue Jiang", a Chinese ship carrying 77 tonnes of ammunition to Zimbabwe was turned away from South Africa after a court refused to allow the weapons to be transported across the country.¹ The ship, which had been at anchor off Durban on South Africa's Indian Ocean coast since April 14, 2008, ran into stiff trouble when the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) refused to unload the weapons and the South African Litigation Center (SALC) brought an emergency legal motion asking the court for an order suspending the operation of the permit that authorized the conveyance of arms discharged from the vessel. Initially, China saw nothing wrong with the shipment. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said that the weapons were ordered a year before and was "perfectly normal."² Unable to unload its cargo in South Africa or other neighbouring countries, the vessel eventually headed home.³ The shipment of an estimated three million rounds of ammunition, 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades, and 2,500 mortar rounds amid serious political crisis in Zimbabwe and mounting concerns about possible bloodshed in the country renewed concerns in many quarters, about China's growing influence in Africa and also fuelled criticisms of China's human rights policy or lack thereof in the continent. This paper takes a look at China's aggressive hunt for resources in Africa, reviews the criticisms levelled against China regarding its involvement in the continent, and evaluates the prospects of integrating human rights consideration into China's Africa policy. Several questions are raised and addressed. What is the role of human rights in China's Africa policy? Drawing on the history of efforts to integrate human rights into the United States' foreign policy, what are the prospects of and challenges to integrating human rights into China's Africa policy? Instead of 'human rights' might the concept of 'development' be a more useful , but no less effective paradigm for infusing people-oriented values into China's Africa policy calculations?

2. China-Africa Trade: Context and Framework

Since 2000, when China rolled out an economic offensive on Africa, relationships between China and countries in Africa have grown steadily.⁴ China-African trade grew by 700 percent in the 1990s. In 2004, China's export to andPage 87 import from Africa was over US$10 billion respectively⁵ and the total trade volume reached US$29.46 billion, an increase of 58.9% over 2003. In 2005, Sino-African trade totalled US$32 billion. Between January and November 2007, China-Africa trade volume reached US$65.9 billion: an increase of 31% compared with the same period in 2006.⁶ China-Africa Trade is expected to top US$100 billion by 2010.⁷ According to China's Ministry of Commerce, bilateral trade volume between China and South Africa and China and Angola each surpasses US$10 billion in 2006. South Africa and Angola are ranked 29 and 31 amongst China's major trading partners. Chinese investment in Africa is also growing. In 2004 alone, 77 Chinese-funded enterprises were established in Africa, with total contracted investment of US$432 million and actual investment of US$135 million. By the end of 2004, an estimated 715 Chinese-funded enterprises were operating in Africa with a total contracted investment of US$1.36 billion and actual investment of US$625 million. In November 2007, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China acquired 20 percent of the shares of Africa's largest bank, the Standard Bank of South Africa, with US$5.5 billion. This is reportedly "the largest foreign investment in Africa," and "China's largest overseas investment." 8

2006 was China's unofficial Year of Africa.⁹ China's Africa Policy was issued in January 2006.¹⁰ In issuing its Africa policy, Beijing wished "to present to the world the objectives of China's policy towards Africa and the measures to achieve them, and its proposals for cooperation in various fields in the coming years, with a view to promoting the steady growth of China-Africa relations in the long term and bringing the mutually- beneficial cooperation to a new stage."¹¹ The scope of the unfolding relationship is potentially wide. China's Africa Policy promises enhanced cooperation in a broad range of fields including the political field, the economic field, the field of education, science, technology, culture, and health, and the field of peace and security. In the economic field, for example, Beijing promises enhanced cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, finance, agriculture, infrastructural development, tourism, debt relief and debt reduction, and resource cooperation. Specifically, China promises to "do its best to provide and gradually increase assistance to African nations with no political strings attached."¹²

2. 1 Why is China Interested in Africa?

There is a broad consensus that what drives the present Sino-African relation is China's need for oil and other natural resources. However, energy and natural resource investments appear to be just one part of China's interest in Africa.

2.1. 1 China's Natural Resource Hunt

The pattern of trade between China and Africa indicates that gaining access to the continent's foreign resources is a priority for Beijing. China's imports from Africa concentrate on crude oil and other natural resources. Enviable, double-digit economic growth in China in the past two decades has pushed up energy consumption and demands in the country making energy security a top priority for Beijing. In the 1950s, China was self sufficient in oil. China has been a net oil importer since 1993. Today, China is the world's second largest consumer of oil behindPage 88 United States.¹³ The Energy Information Administration predicts that China's oil demand will reach 9.4 million bbl/d by 2020, with net imports of 5.9 million bbl/d, making it a major factor in the world oil market.¹⁴

Given present domestic demands for oil, growing future dependence on oil imports, and Beijing's declared intention to build a national strategic petroleum reserve, Africa is of strategic importance to China.15 Expansion of exploration and production joint ventures with foreign companies is a top priority for Beijing. China's foray into Africa is calculated. The modus operandi is quite simple. Backed by Beijing, state-owned Chinese firms court supplier states in Africa by cultivating bilateral relations and promising aid, increased commerce, and other forms of development assistance. Leading this resource hunt are the China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec),¹⁶ the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC),¹⁷ and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).¹⁸ It is reported that the China's Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission have published a list of countries and resources in which investment is eligible for state subsidies, a clear effort to encourage resource hunt.¹⁹

China's effort is paying off. Today, Africa is a key oil exporter to China. In 2005, about 30 percent of China's total oil import (nearly 701,000 bpd) came from Africa.²⁰ China has oil business deals with majority, if not most, of the countries in Africa that currently produce oil or have confirmed oil reserves. China has sought oil deals from numerous countries in the region including Nigeria, Sudan, Angola, Chad, Algeria, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and the Republic of Congo.

2.1. 2 Political and Diplomatic Ties

The relationship between China and Africa dates back to the 1950s. Indeed the foundation stone of China-Africa relations was laid in 1955 at the Asia-African Conference (the Bandung Conference) held in Bandung, Indonesia from April 18-April 24, 1955. Today, China has diplomatic and economic ties with 53 countries in Africa. China's foray into Africa reflects China's interest in expanding South-South cooperation. China believes that "[w]ith huge market potential and special features of their development models, [developing countries] may support one another and draw on each other's strong points to achieve common development for mutual benefit."21 Beijing's vision is that through active cooperation, developing countries can change the present rules of the game in the international system.²²

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