Inter Press Service (Johannesburg)
8 February 2008
The massive deal that China signed with the Democratic Republic of Congo last year is not the "second colonisation" that some Europeans allege it is. The agreement appears, in fact, a promising way to kick-start an economy.
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Those very long term agreements may be changed by many things: Political instability or the so called united states of Africa. There is nothing new chinese are doing in Africa that other countries in need of raw material have not done. Congolese need only to play smarter this time. Chinese companies are not charity organizations. If Congo get messed up they do not care as long as they make profits. Chinese are doing the same in Sudan and do not care about a quater million of killed Sudanese. Similarly the West did not care when 4 millions Congolese were killed as the tragedy did not affect them politically or economically. Africans need to deal smarter regardless of who they are dealing with: Europe, China, India, Japan, Brazil, Korea... Correction: China total railway network is less 100,000Km. There was probably a typo when you gave the nummber 400,000Km. Approximative numbers can be found at www.geographyiq.com by clicking transportation in China.