http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/08/africa/AF-GEN-China-in-Africa.phpThe Associated Press Published: February 8, 2007
PRETORIA, South Africa: Chinese President Hu Jintao is in Africa bearing the usual gifts of money for soccer stadiums and interest-free loans, but also acknowledging tensions over mounting trade imbalances, the practices of some Chinese investors and the risks of doing business with rogue states.
Unmentioned, as Beijing adds luster to Africa's renewed status as a strategic ally, is the possibility of a clash with the United States as the two vie for resources and influence on the continent. Another source of possible conflict is China's sale of arms to countries accused of human rights violations.Hu's eight-nation, 12-day tour has taken him to Cameroon, Liberia, Sudan, Zambia, Namibia and South Africa. On Thursday, he arrived in Mozambique and wraps up his tour Friday and Saturday in the Seychelles.
Hu was met by flag-waving crowds and standing ovations. But he also had to deal with pressure to influence Sudan's government about the murderous conflict in Darfur. In Liberia, there were rumors a leading legislator received a handout from Taiwan, China's rival. Clothing manufacturers in Zambia charged cheap Chinese goods were destroying their business. As synthetic fabrics displace cotton prints in street markets across the continent, South Africa's textile union says some 100,000 jobs have been lost and last year threatened to boycott anyone selling Chinese products.Hu's delegation canceled a visit to Zambia's Copperbelt, where Beijing is setting up an economic cooperation zone expected to draw US$800 million (euro615 million) in new mining investments, fearing protests. While many Zambians welcome the Chinese presence, there has been a backlash fueled by workplace accidents, poor working conditions and low pay at Chinese-run copper mines. Fifty-one Zambian workers died in a 2005 mine explosion, and dozens of protesters were fired on by Chinese security guards last year.
"They are not here to develop Zambia, they're here to develop China," said Zambian legislator Guy Scott.
South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki last year warned against allowing Chinese forays into Africa to become a neocolonialist adventure, with African raw materials exchanged for shoddy manufactured imports, and little attention to developing an impoverished continent.
Hu was at pains to change that perception. In a speech to South African university students, he emphasized "economic win-win cooperation." In Namibia, he counseled managers of Chinese companies on bearing social responsibility and promoting harmony with local people, China's state television reported. It appeared to be the first time Hu has addressed issues facing Chinese companies operating in Africa.