The mine had not yet opened, but Madagascans were already seething with rage and the Chinese management finally quit Soamahamanina, Madagascar, leaving behind empty tents and cigarette butts.
For months, this small city in central Madagascar was engulfed by protests targeted at a Chinese gold mining company, Jiuxing.
Every Thursday, city residents would take to the streets in downtown Soamahamanina to demonstrate against Jiuxing, which had secured a 40-year gold mining license on a 7,500 hectare piece of land.
For the protesters, the mining operation risked ruining their farms — one element of a nationwide aversion to the new wave of Chinese investors on the large Indian Ocean island.
Not just in Soamahamanina, but across the country Madagascans have openly expressed their hostility toward the growing presence of China, the country’s largest trading partner.
Anti-Chinese sentiment is on the rise in Africa as Beijing increases its business presence on the continent for natural resources while flooding the markets with “Made in China” goods.
“Madagascar belongs to the Madagascans, not the Chinese or any other foreigners,” said Fenohasina, a local student.
“Forty years of operation — that is called selling the country,” said Marise-Edine, a street vendor.
Many farmers who were eager to take advantage of the windfall and had agreed to sell their land to the Chinese miner, are now regretting it.
“Our compatriots are angry with us and accuse us of selling away the country,” said farmer Perline Razafiarisoa.
However, a local worker at Jiuxing blames the hostilities on politics.
“It’s people from outside who are encouraging people here to dislike the Chinese,” said Chrysostome Rakotondrazafy, a Jiuxing Mines foreman. “There is political manipulation behind all this.”
Buckling under the weight of the relentless protests, the Chinese mining workers had little choice but to pack up their bags and leave in October.
“As a company we think we have the right to stay, but for the sake of social appeasement, we chose to withdraw,” mine spokeswoman Stella Andriamamonjy said. “We hope to return under new terms, [and] repair past mistakes.”
How soon that will be, she could not say.
For the locals in Soamahamanina, the return of the Chinese would not be welcome.
“I would like to tell our leaders that the big powers in this world are only turning us against each other to destroy our country,” resident Marie Rasoloson said.
With more that 800 companies now on the island, China has rapidly established itself as Madagascar’s largest trading partner.
In a country where 90 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, such investment has given an unexpected boost to infrastructure development.
However, as elsewhere on the continent, the mass arrival of Chinese investors has created tensions.
In 2011, police officers stepped in to prevent riots in the Chinatown section of the capital Antananarivo after an Asian trader beat up his two Madagascan employees.
Three years later, clashes over wage demands left six people dead at a “Chinese” sugar factory in Morondava.
The Chinese embassy has warned the Malagasy authorities against tarnishing its image as an investment destination.
The Malagasy government is concerned at the growing hostilities toward its powerful partner.
“It is essential to prevent this from degenerating into xenophobia,” said the ruling HVM party leader Rivo Rakotovao.
Officially launching a Chinese-built road recently, Malagasy President Hery Rajaonarimampianina praised Beijing’s “helping hand.”
Chinese ambassador Yang Xiaorong (楊小茸) promised to strengthen the “win-win cooperation” between the two countries.
“Chinese companies are well integrated into the local community,” said the Chinese embassy, adding that 90 percent of the 17,000 jobs created so far are occupied by locals.
Hit by the bitter competition from Chinese outfits, many Malagasy remain skeptical.
“We only pick up the crumbs,” craftsman Daniel Rafanomezantsoa said.
MINERAL DEPOSITS: The Pacific nation is looking for new foreign partners after its agreement with Canada’s Metals Co was terminated ‘mutually’ at the end of last year Pacific nation Kiribati says it is exploring a deep-sea mining partnership with China, dangling access to a vast patch of Pacific Ocean harboring coveted metals and minerals. Beijing has been ramping up efforts to court Pacific nations sitting on lucrative seafloor deposits of cobalt, nickel and copper — recently inking a cooperation deal with Cook Islands. Kiribati opened discussions with Chinese Ambassador Zhou Limin (周立民) after a longstanding agreement with leading deep-sea mining outfit The Metals Co fell through. “The talk provides an exciting opportunity to explore potential collaboration for the sustainable exploration of the deep-ocean resources in Kiribati,” the government said
The head of Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, was sacked yesterday, days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he no longer trusts him, and fallout from a report on the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. “The Government unanimously approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to end ISA Director Ronen Bar’s term of office,” a statement said. He is to leave his post when his successor is appointed by April 10 at the latest, the statement said. Netanyahu on Sunday cited an “ongoing lack of trust” as the reason for moving to dismiss Bar, who joined the agency in 1993. Bar, meant to
Indonesia’s parliament yesterday amended a law to allow members of the military to hold more government roles, despite criticisms that it would expand the armed forces’ role in civilian affairs. The revision to the armed forces law, pushed mainly by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s coalition, was aimed at expanding the military’s role beyond defense in a country long influenced by its armed forces. The amendment has sparked fears of a return to the era of former Indonesian president Suharto, who ex-general Prabowo once served and who used military figures to crack down on dissent. “Now it’s the time for us to ask the
The central Dutch city of Utrecht has installed a “fish doorbell” on a river lock that lets viewers of an online livestream alert authorities to fish being held up as they make their springtime migration to shallow spawning grounds. The idea is simple: An underwater camera at Utrecht’s Weerdsluis lock sends live footage to a Web site. When somebody watching the site sees a fish, they can click a button that sends a screenshot to organizers. When they see enough fish, they alert a water worker who opens the lock to let the fish swim through. Now in its fifth year, the
RSS