Reason Number 46 - Meet the New ‘Ugly American’

`Fault Lines On The Face Of China: 50 Reasons Why China May Never Be Great’ - Excerpt 89

“China implicitly links its history with that of Africa, suggesting the two countries share a common experience. According to Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, China ‘stood firmly with the African people and provided them with moral support and material assistance in their strenuous struggle to overthrow colonial rule and gain national liberation.’

In explaining China’s policies towards Africa, the state-controlled Xinhua news agency said that ‘Sharing similar historical experience, China and Africa have all along sympathized with and supported each other in the struggle for national liberation and forged a profound friendship.’

It is our view that the above comments are profound nonsense. The experience of China, for fewer than one hundred years subjugated to the economic whims of Western and Eastern colonial powers, simply cannot be compared to the centuries that Africa, as an entire continent, suffered of slavery, one of the gravest sins committed in world history, exploitation by white colonialists, and the continuation today of a lack of positive investment from developed countries. China’s suggestion that its own history mirrors that of Africa is every bit as offensive as its claim that the Nanjing Massacre was equivalent to the Holocaust.”

I’ll love you, dear, I’ll love you

Till China and Africa meet

And the river jumps over the mountain

And the salmon sing in the street

But what would Wystie have said if he saw what really happened when China and Africa met?

`Fault Lines On The Face Of China: 50 Reasons Why China May Never Be Great’ - Excerpt 90

“The truth of the matter is that China’s behavior in Africa is greedy, rapacious and cruel. Under a mantle of ‘mutual benefit’ China is exploiting Africa at a colossal rate, buying up vast amounts of mineral resources from the continent and offering little but window-dressing such as stadiums, bridges and other infrastructure in return.

Far from wanting to help Africa, the record shows that China has explicitly hurt the continent, by using its membership of the UN Security Council to veto action aimed at stopping genocide in Sudan. Though in 2007, under international pressure and the threat of an Olympic boycott, China began to make limited moves to allow international action in the country, it is clear that China is perfectly willing to tolerate any level of abuse in its quest for resources. And not only did China veto UN action in Sudan – it also sold the Sudanese government weapons with which it committed crimes against humanity. 

China is very quick to downplay suffering in other countries, claiming the death toll in Sudan (around 200,000) was greatly exaggerated. Yet when anyone has the temerity to suggest that the China’s figure of 300,000 victims in the Nanjing massacre is exaggerated (for example pointing out that many estimates place the death toll between 150,000 and 300,000) Beijing reacts with apoplectic fury.

For China, Africa is just a continent to be exploited – a source of raw materials and a destination for goods produced so cheaply that they drive African firms out of business. While China is happy to build extensive infrastructure which will let it more efficiently plunder the continent, purely altruistic investment, such as in schools and hospitals, is almost unheard of.”