Thursday, December 17, 2015

China in Africa: Not Neo-colonialist but Not Perfect Either

The University of Nottingham posted on 17 December 2015 a commentary titled "'Chinese Neo-Colonialism in Africa': A Bien-Pensant Political Ploy" by Barry Sautman, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Yan Hairong, Hong Kong Polytechnic University.   

The authors argue that China is not neo-colonialist in Africa but that is not to say the global system is just, that Chinese companies, like others, do not exploit African labor and resources or that all is well with Africa-China relations.  It means there should be a focus on root causes of global social and economic inequality, including how the Chinese presence in Africa best fits.