All the world's superpowers have dirt on their hands. China is only doing what's best for its national interests, just like the former USSR, the USA, and all former superpowers of the past.

___________________

Yup, heard about this a while ago. Corruption and high level scams all the way!
No more euro trash in africa, can't compete with the chinese.

'Whitey' hasn't been welcome in Africa for some time and for a couple of really good reasons back when things like international press coverage, national consciences, the UN and other sundry things which attempt to keep people 'honest'. Places like the UK, Belgium, France and to a lesser degree, Germany, Holland, Switzerland and a few dozen others made their dollars and national status ankle deep in blood from what came out of there.

I don't see the Chinese as being any more or less corrupt/decent and self serving/charitable as any of the others that have come there for the same reasons, they're just the current ones. They sell a large amount of weapons there, just like the Yanks and Russians, though to be fair they also tend to bring a little more in the way of infrastructure and money too.

Bit hard to say if building a road and power lines from the capital to whatever mineral resource they're interested in is offsetting the couple of hundred tons of armaments being sold to neighbouring countries for the purposes of killing each other or someone else. Its just that unlike the Europeans and Americans, they aren't rolling up at gunpoint and they aren't trying to 'colonise' by bring fundamental changes to countries by making them communist.

This has been going on pretty constantly since the US began redirecting its foreign policy attention to the Middle East. A lot of Africans have been alienated by the US, and view Chinese development (no contingencies attached) as a nice alternative to being told to make political reforms before receiving cash from the World Bank or the US.

Zambia, Angola, Sudan, Tanzania, and Nigeria used to all be key US allies on the continent... now only Angola still maintains an exceptionally strong relationship, and even that is being chipped away at by the Chinese who have been increasing their construction work on infrastructure for the oil industry there.

___________________

China has a voracious appetite for raw resources and are doing this all over the world.
Africa is ripe for the picking...

___________________
"...End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path...one that we all must take.
The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all change to silver glass...and then you see it...
...white shores...and beyond...the far green country under a swift sunrise."

http://youtube.com/watch?v=nKEPkjXbUgs

___________________

soulful/latin/deep house + jazz

I can tell you from experience that China is deep inside Africa, and so is India. I have a friend working on power lines in Sudan, and he says he's the only white engineer there. Everybody else is chinese or indian.

___________________
1+1=10

China is looking out for itself. If anything they will do great things for the Africans and democracy by overlooking the fact that most African leaders are brutal dictators. Just wait.

You might want to see how many european and us banks have their fingers in Chinese pies before you go assuming that it is a one way street.

Even this week RBS took up a 19.99% stake in a Chinese company (20% being the legal max) following on from putting $2 billion (now worth 6$ billion) into the Bank of China.

It's all money. Not nationality.

That said you want to look at countries like Brazil that's where there is real money to be made.

often violence and corruption exists because of the lack of alternatives. with decent jobs comes stability

you know all those anti-american rallies that we see on tv? did you know those guys get paid to be there?

___________________

soulful/latin/deep house + jazz

quote:

Originally posted by Dervish You might want to see how many european and us banks have their fingers in Chinese pies before you go assuming that it is a one way street. Even this week RBS took up a 19.99% stake in a Chinese company (20% being the legal max) following on from putting $2 billion (now worth 6$ billion) into the Bank of China. It's all money. Not nationality. That said you want to look at countries like Brazil that's where there is real money to be made.

Not true - China is deep in money, assets, and personnel. Chinese business-owners are flooding many African markets, and construction firms dominate on the continent. The graph I posted was foreign direct investment directly from the Chinese government, but doesn't even come close to describing the amount of private investments and contracts won by Chinese state firms. Chinese banks are the tip of the iceberg.

___________________