US President Barack Obama’s visit to Kenya and Ethiopia has been of symbolic significance because it signals Washington’s determination to engage with the African continent after a decade of antiterrorism campaigns concentrated on the Middle East and Central Asia.
As the US considers China and Russia to be strategic competitors, it is determined to propagate the Euro-American ideas of democratization and innovative economic development. In the past two decades, many rulers in Africa have been drawn to Chinese and Russian principles of diplomatic non-intervention, authoritarian leadership and development through labor.
First, China has successfully repositioned itself as a model for Africa because the country pursued its modernization from a status inferior to that of the West and Japan. Hence, China’s labor-intensive industrial development, with change in governance being painfully slow as a result of its growth and progress, rather than a necessary prerequisite for such growth.
Second, Africa has become a new frontier for Chinese expansion. The search for new energy supplies has been the driving force of China’s African policy. Although Sino-African trade makes up a small proportion of China’s overall foreign trade, its annual rate of growth is much faster than that between China and any other region.
What has impressed observers the most have been Chinese contributions to technology transfers, including not only upgrades of infrastructure previously sponsored by former Chinese leader Mao Zedong (毛澤東) during the Cold War, but also the more recent creation of economic zones and agro-technical parks, through which African nations have generated employment opportunities and improved their business sectors.
Third, China has given large amounts of financial assistance that no other country could match. The China-Africa Development Fund, with a budget of US$5 billion, was set up to finance joint ventures. Most Chinese investors in Africa are state-owned enterprises with strong government support. They are willing to make long-term business decisions rather than pursuing immediate gains. These agreements highlight China’s systematic efforts to deepen ties with Africa, bidding for oil deals and seeking new markets for its products.
China’s economic and diplomatic clout has presented an irresistible attraction to the US’ allies in Africa, but all is not lost for the US. Obama’s call for democratization, free trade and individual empowerment directly critiques China’s top-down developmental approach, which puts collective interests ahead of the wellbeing of ordinary people.
Given the outcomes of China’s geopolitical ambitions and the latest US attempts to re-engage, Africa offers wonderful opportunities for Taiwan to articulate its global vision, reset its diplomatic agenda and boost its economy through overseas investment. In particular, Taiwan should expand social and cultural ties with Africa’s civil society, and reposition itself as a model of democratic change and knowledge-based economy.
Joseph Tse-Hei Lee is professor of history and co-director of the bachelor’s program in Global Asia studies at Pace University in New York.
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