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Africa: Keen On Business, China is Yet to Flex Its Formidable Military Muscle
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The Nation (Nairobi)
16 May 2008
Posted to the web 16 May 2008
Patrick Mutahi
Nairobi
A489-foot Chinese freighter An Yue Jian docked at the port of Durban in South Africa last month with three million rounds of assault rifle ammunition, 3,000 mortar rounds and 1,500 rocket- propelled grenades destined for landlocked Zimbabwe.
However, the ship instantly drew controversy with dockworkers refusing to unload the cargo. Zambia, which chairs the Southern African Development Community (SADC) grouping, also urged other regional states to bar the vessel from entering their waters. It was rightly feared the arms could deepen Zimbabwe's election crisis and be used in a crackdown on the opposition.
Under immense local and international pressure, the ship was recalled to China.
Even though the heat has cooled down, it puts to question whether Beijing is in a position to protect its vast investments in Africa.
Tellingly, Sino-Africa trade has significantly increased from $11 billion (Sh660 billion) in 2000 to $65.9 billion (Sh4 trillion) in 2007, making it the continent's third largest trade partner behind the United States and France. It is projected that by 2010, China will overtake the US and France as Africa's biggest trading partner with a target of $100 billion (Sh7 trillion) trade surplus.
Thus, Beijing has swiftly become the most aggressive investor in Africa, rattling the West which has dominated Africa's virgin markets. But this has also exposed the Asian giant to various security challenges.
In April 2007, nine Chinese and 65 Ethiopian oil engineers were killed during an assault on an oil exploration site operated by Sinopec's Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia.
The militia group Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) also kidnapped seven Chinese men who it later released. The ONLF has repeatedly warned foreign oil companies to leave the Ethiopian region over which it has gone to war with Somalia.
In February 2007, four assailants raided a Chinese building materials plant in Kenya and killed one Chinese employee. In April 2006, the militant Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) condemned China for taking a $2.2 billion stake in oil fields in delta. It detonated a car bomb and warned that Chinese investors would be "treated as thieves."
Anti-Chinese sentiment has increased in Zambia since 2005, when an explosion at a Chinese-owned copper mine killed at least 46 workers and spawned complaints of unsafe working conditions and poor environmental practices. In 2004, rebels abducted Chinese workers in southern Sudan.
Despite the mounting insecurity to its investments, China is not building a military base in Africa. Rather, it is stepping up its ability to pursue a more confident and independent security policy in the continent by resorting to collective security policy with African countries.
Beijing's game plan, it would appear, is to neutralise threats in Africa with its diplomatic charm. Consequently, as Beijing prepares to become Africa's most prominent economic partner, its capability to respond to insecurity, though it has the capacity to do so, isn't evident in the continent.
Un-manned combat aircraft
According to the US Defense Department Annual report released in May 2007, China is modernising its military in ways that give it options for launching surprise attacks on targets far from its borders.
The report cites the Army's acquisition of long-endurance submarines, un-manned combat aircraft, additional precision-guided air-to-ground missiles and long-distance military communications systems.
"The People's Liberation Army is pursuing a comprehensive transformation from a mass army designed for protracted wars of attrition on its territory to one capable of fighting and winning short-duration, high-intensity conflicts against high-tech adversaries," the Pentagon report said.
Referring to a January 2007 test in which China shot down one of its own satellites with a missile, the report said the nation's capability "poses dangers to human space flight and puts at risk the assets of all space-faring nations."
But Beijing's military build-up is not exceptional. Most external powers, for which Africa's mineral wealth has become indispensable to their growth, have backed up their economic forays with a projection of military might. This is aimed at suppressing local resistance in their dominions or fending off their realms from other imperialist competitors.
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Between 2000 and 2006, the US increased the number of its troops in Africa from 220 to nearly 1,000. This was alongside the establishment of the controversial New Africa Command (AFRICOM), announced when Chinese President Hu Jintao was completing a tour of the region in 2006.
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