China To Lay Out Plans For Conquest Of Africa
BEIJING (AP) - China will set the future direction of its burgeoning ties with Africa at a multinational forum in Egypt this month, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi was quoted as saying on Sunday.
Premier Wen Jiabao plans to attend the Nov. 8-9 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Yang said in an interview with the official Xinhua News Agency.
No details were given, but at the last forum in 2006, China pledged to double assistance to Africa by 2009, provide $5 billion in preferential loans and credits, cancel debts and establish a $5 billion fund to encourage Chinese investment.
Yang said those goals had all been met, while the upcoming meeting marks “another important occasion to boost China-Africa friendship and cooperation.”
China’s trade with Africa has soared by a factor of 10 since 2001, passing the $100 billion mark last year. Estimates of Chinese investment in Africa range upward from $6 billion as China tries to lock up oil, gas and other key resources for its resource-hungry economy. Estimates for total loans, investment and aid donations—often difficult to distinguish from each other—run closer to $50 billion.
Chinese companies, most of them backed by the state, have been credited with building crucial infrastructure and providing easy loans and assistance for some of the world’s poorest nations.
However, Beijing’s policy of not tying assistance to political and economic reform has been criticized for enabling corruption, inefficiency and bad governance.
China also requires countries receiving aid to cut ties with Taiwan, and critics say its close relations with Sudan have allowed the regime in Khartoum to carry out atrocities in the Darfur region.
A $7 billion mining deal between Guinea’s repressive military regime and a little-known Chinese company announced last month underscored for many China’s full-throttle rush into Africa and its willingness to deal with brutal and corrupt governments.
The government says it was not consulted on the Guinea deal, and its current status is unknown.
Elsewhere in the interview, Yang said China would “continue to fulfill its due international obligation and responsibility and continue to contribute to the economic and social development of Africa.”
He called on all nations, especially those in the developed world, to fulfill their commitments to help Africa out of poverty.
“The world’s prosperity and development will not be realized without Africa, and to help Africa achieve development is the common responsibility of the international community,” Yang said.
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He called on all nations, especially those in the developed world, to fulfill their commitments to help Africa out of poverty…
what commitment?
What China wants is for everyone else to fund infrastructure development in Africa (roads, electricity, etc.) so that China can exploit that infrastructure to extract natural resources.
You know how it is, they’re just being capitalist pigs.
You can’t help Marxist, Socialist, Thugocracies to become prosperous. Least of all, can the ex-Marxist now Sopranos-like totalitarian state like China help them. They have no idea how to grow an economy.
No idea how to grow an economy? Have you not been watching China for the past 20 years? They have the highest growth rate in the world, and they will be the biggest economy in the world in 10 years. They have the biggest population in the world. And they own half of our US debt. They are making key investments in many types of technologies (energy, auto, tech) that dwarfs our own investment here in the US. We could probably learn a thing or two from the Chinese on how to grow an economy!
Japan was going to take over the world in the 1980’s - and that didn’t happen. China has severe internal difficulties of its own as well - severe corruption in the government and the effects of their ‘one child’ policy, for starters. Not that we shouldn’t pay attention, though.
Mmmboy, aint no slavery like Chinese slavery…
The Chicoms have a problem just dealing with the Uighurs now. There are no mohammedans in Africa, right, Dum Phuq Yu?
The fundamental differences between China and Japan are the following:
China: 3.7 million square miles / Pop: 1330 million
Japan: .14 million square miles / Pop: 127 million
China so much as sneezes right now, and the world feels the hurricane. Good thing they have $5000 billion or so invested in us!! If there is one thing our crooked bankers on Wall Street have done right (Paulson, Rubin, Bernanke, Summers, Volcker, etc. etc.) it was to convince the Chinese to soak up all our debt with the profits of their growth! Now they have no choice but to ride out our financial roller coaster.
China needs to feed their mammoth population, I think they are after their food.
they want the body-parts.
The best laid plans of man are usually disrupted by
mice.
The chinese have several major problems/crisis
they are not handling well. Hepatitis C, AIDS,
etc., and the looming problem of not having enough
women for the growing population of young men.
That is enough to start a war.
Well said.