In The Media
Josh Kurlantzick
{
"authors": [
"Josh Kurlantzick"
],
"type": "other",
"centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
],
"collections": [],
"englishNewsletterAll": "asia",
"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"programAffiliation": "AP",
"programs": [
"Asia"
],
"projects": [],
"regions": [
"China"
],
"topics": [
"Economy"
]
}
REQUIRED IMAGE
Other
Beijing’s Safari: China’s Move into Africa and Its Implications for Aid, Development, and Governance
Published on Nov 1, 2006
Source: Carnegie Endowment
China’s economic and cultural relationship with Africa provokes serious questions in the West about international aid, human rights and energy security. On the eve of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing this November 3-5, how should Western nations view China’s burgeoning relationship with Africa, and what does it suggest about China’s new approach to global diplomacy?
In a new Carnegie Policy Outlook, Beijing’s Safari: China’s Move into Africa and Its Implications for Aid, Development, and Governance, Carnegie Visiting Scholar Joshua Kurlantzick argues that Beijing has quickly become a major donor and investor across Africa, and has savvily used multilateral forums like FOCAC to cultivate African elites. As a result, China now rivals the United States, France, and international financial institutions for influence on the continent. Chinese loans and grants to African nations, which now reach nearly $3 billion, have become much more enticing than condition-laden aid from international institutions. Beijing also has wooed African nations with aid for infrastructure, a ban on export tariffs for the poorest nations, and its status as a market for African goods and services.
Chinese engagement in Africa could be a catalyst for positive change on the continent. But the China-Africa relationship also could be damaging to African politics, environments, and debt loads. Kurlantzick argues that China should develop a broader strategy of influence in Africa – using soft power to build popularity among African publics, rather than reinforcing authoritarian regimes. China should also create a permanent aid bureaucracy capable of working with other donors.
Kurlantzick further argues that the United States, Europe, and international financial institutions should not only call for China to be a stakeholder in Africa but give China a stake. This includes considering expanding China’s role in the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, and helping China develop a permanent aid bureaucracy. Making China a stakeholder in Africa now will encourage positive Chinese leadership in mediating conflicts, promoting development, and tackling non-traditional security threats in the future.
This is a web-only publication.
Click on the link above for the full text of this Carnegie publication.
About the AuthorJoshua Kurlantzick is a visiting scholar in the China Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Kurlantzick is assessing China’s relationship with the developing world; his book on China’s soft power will be released in early 2007.
About the Author
Josh Kurlantzick
Former Visiting Scholar, China Program
A special correspondent for The New Republic, a columnist for Time, and a senior correspondent for The American Prospect, Kurlantzick assesses China’s relationship with the developing world, including Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
- Fighting Terrorism With Terrorists
- India is Divided Over Its Ties to the US: Push and PullIn The Media
Josh Kurlantzick
Recent Work
More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- The Geopolitical Debates Over Controlling Cloud ComputeArticle
If U.S. policymakers continue down the path of restricting China’s access to frontier AI, they will eventually have to implement some sort of restriction on cloud access.
Noah Tan
- From Labor Scarcity to AI Society: Governing Productivity in East AsiaArticle
The debate over AI and work too often centers on displacement. Facing aging populations and shrinking workforces, East Asian policymakers view AI not as a threat, but as a cross-sectoral workforce strategy.
Darcie Draudt-Véjares, Sophie Zhuang
- Governing AI in the Shadow of Giants: Korea’s Strategic Response to Great Power AI CompetitionArticle
In its version of an AI middle power strategy, Seoul is pursuing alignment with the United States not as an endpoint but as a strategy to build industrial and geopolitical leverage. Whether this balance holds remains an open question.
Darcie Draudt-Véjares, Seungjoo Lee
- Is China’s High-Quality Investment Output Economically Viable?Commentary
China’s rapid technological progress and its first-rate infrastructure are often cited as refuting the claim that China has been systematically overinvesting in non-productive projects for many years. In fact, as the logic of overinvestment and the many historical precedents show, the former is all-too-often consistent with the latter.
Michael Pettis
- The Much-Touted Middle Corridor Transport Route Could Prove a Dead EndCommentary
For the Middle Corridor to fulfill its promises, one of these routes must become scalable. At present, neither is.
Friedrich Conradi
