Opinion | China is now a big player in the Horn of Africa

By Augustus K. Yeung

Introduction

Every time when I think of Africa, I'd be emotionally drawn to the Hollywood blockbuster "Out of Africa" in which Muriel Streep dreamily narrates her story, "I had a farm in Africa…" and I'd see her dream being dashed to pieces--until she meets that good-looking and romantic Robert Redford who passionately shows her the better side of Africa, the big, beautiful and green, green grass of the care-free "Dark Continent".

I also think of the great European humanitarian physician Dr. Albert Schweizer who had "homed in" with his good wife in Africa, spending a whole lifetime building clinics, serving the poor, and returning to Europe only to raise funds to build yet another bigger hospital compound for the native people whom they served religiously if not unconditionally.

And then I have learned of the great philanthropists such as Bill Gates and Miranda Gates quitting their jobs to work full time for the people of Africa, fighting AIDS, which is in itself a very touching American human story.

These were the individual acts of American and European humanists volunteering and dedicating a whole lifetime of services, giving the world a free lesson on humanitarian acts of compassion.

However, these are limited to kind individuals, although the actors are chronologically getting bigger and wealthier until the Chinese step in institutionally as corporate investors. And as a nation red China is devoted to addressing the root cause of poverty and, perhaps, justice in Africa, the Dark Continent.

China to Send an Envoy to the Horn of Africa

"China's pledge to appoint a Horn of Africa peace envoy has been interpreted by some observers as an 'official' move away from its traditional position of non-intervention in other countries' affairs," reports Jevans Nyabiage for the Post. ("Peace envoy pledge 'reveals a more confident global China'. Monday, January 10, 2022.)

"Foreign Minister Wang Yi also called for a regional peace conference during his visit to Kenya last Thursday, in which he praised the region's "unique strategic position and great development potential."

But the Horn – home to Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan—has witnessed civil wars, Islamist insurgencies and military coups that have threatened investments into the region.

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"Seifudein Adem, a professor of global studies at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan, said the appointment of an envoy showed China had realized the geostrategic value of the Horn of Africa and was ready to 'officially and openly' put aside its 'principle of non-interference' when its interests dictated this."

More significantly, "it reflects China's growing confidence as the rising global power that is willing and able to provide global public goods through, among other things, the mediation of conflicts in distant lands," Adem reports. "China, in effect, is presenting itself for the first time as an alternative mediator of a conflict [in Ethiopia] which the US has been actively trying to mediate, unsuccessfully so far."

Yu-Shan Wu, a postdoctoral research fellow at the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, said the special envoy would allow China to "better support and coordinate with African multilateral [African Union] peace and security efforts."

"Appointment of an envoy will also help better inform China's position on particular issues such as the complexities in Somalia and civil war in Ethiopia," Wu added.

Aaron Tesfaye, a professor of political science at William Paterson University, Wayne, New Jersey, said the new politics of the Horn – the shaky transition in Sudan, the change of government and civil war in Ethiopia, and the ongoing armed conflict in Somalia – had created opportunities for China.

He added that Wang's visit "underlines China is now a big player in the region especially in the Red Sea."

China has funded a US$4.5 billion rail link to Djibouti in Ethiopia and is making inroads in Eritrea, which may start seeing Chinese money flow to develop its ports and rail networks.

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Troops from both countries have been fighting rebels in Ethiopia's Tigray province. Tesfaye said the leaders of the two countries appeared to be asserting their independence from the United States and had ignored Washington's peace initiatives.

"One should see Wang's recent visit as an affirmation that China is very much interested in deepening its 'South-South' political, economic and military relations with the nations, who are key players, along with the Gulf States, and critical to China's Maritime Silk Road and security in the Red Sea littoral," he said.

"The long-term interests of Chinese investors and projects and stable trade and investment relations depended on peace and security in the region," said Yunnan Chen, a senior research officer at the London-based Overseas Development Institute think tank.

"She said the conflicts put Chinese citizens and workers on the ground at risk, as well as the sustainability of infrastructure projects," reports the Post. ("Peace envoy pledge 'reveals a more confident global China'. South China Morning Post. Monday, January 10, 2022.)

Conclusion

On top of the riveting stories introduced at the beginning of this article, I'd also read Nelson Mandel's biography, "Long Walk to Freedom", a book written while he was still in prison, which was smuggled out and got printed.

I have learned from this book that the Africans and the Chinese have much in common: The strong sense of family, the human values and the love of the nation, patriotism.

Above all, I have learned that Nelson Mandela had secretly made his way to China, where he met Mao Zedong—a fact which was rarely made public. He made a request for arms and ammunitions, but that it was perhaps never granted. Who could guess that Mao's red "apostles" would be conducting humanitarian acts for China's African friends?

An arms struggle would not have won Mandel the world's sympathy. Instead, his words of peaceful condemnation of the political and social injustice of the time turned out to be more powerful, disarming and overwhelming than "bullets and bombs". Or else, Mandela would not have been able to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, which had finally strengthened his hand for negotiation with the Apartheid government that had for 27 years imprisoned him and his comrade Bishop Tutu of South Africa, who passed away recently.

This conversation of Nelson Mandela and Mao Zedong in Zhongnanhai, Beijing may have been disappointing to this desperate African freedom fighter, but it did give a hint of Mao's wisdom: Nelson Mandela may not have left Beijing empty-handed; that "request" may have been replaced with a Chinese pledge to support South Africa and the African National Congress in the form of today's long-lasting friendship with China, which started with the historic building of the Tanzania Railway, China's monumental first railway project in Africa—personally approved and supervised by Zhou Enlai, constructed by Chinese engineers in the era of Mao.

Considering this significance, should one then be surprised that China is now a big player in Africa?

 

The author is a freelance writer; formerly Adjunct Lecturer, taught MBA Philosophy of Management, and International Strategy, and online columnist of 3-D Corner (HKU SPACE), University of Hong Kong.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.

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