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The rising superpower has built up enormous holdings in poor, resource-rich African countries but its business partners there aren't always thrilled.
The Chinese migrants who have gone out into the world, the risk-takers who have found spots in Asia, Latin America and Africa, are as diverse as China itself: young and middle-aged, unschooled and highly educated, working for private companies and state-owned enterprises — and even for themselves. They are not a monolith. And yet, in these far-off places, they are connected to one another in a way that they never could be back home in a land of 1.4 billion people. It’s not just the shared food, culture or language — or the solidarity that comes from being thrown together in a harsh environment. What binds these individuals together is an abiding belief that their presence overseas is making China better and stronger. This shared conviction, as much as the state that has nurtured it, is what makes China a colossus, a nation that can be seen by others, in the same instant, as a blessing and a curse.https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/02/m...ial-power.htmlChina’s actions in Africa certainly passes Kwame Nkrumah’s litmus test of neo-colonialism. The appearance of national sovereignty is preserved, but vast economic control allows China to wield undue political influence.
Sadly, this neo-colonialist system is not limited to sub-Saharan Africa. Much like R4I swaps and loans in Africa, Chinese projects in Southeast Asia have political riders attached to them. However, rather than local favoritism or United Nations votes, China has required ideological purity for its regional ambitions. Whether it is Taiwan and the “One China” policy or Tibet and the Dali Lama, participation in Chinese initiatives such as One Belt, One Road or the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, carry political provisions both spoken and unspoken. With China’s neo-colonialist tentacles spanning from Saigon to Johannesburg, Pyongyang to Accra, the question remains: who is next?
http://www.ketagalanmedia.com/2017/1...tem-in-africa/
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