On Wed, May 28, 2008 at 11:21 AM, Jim Devine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > raghu wrote: >> ... there are >> some disturbing signs that China may be turning into an Imperialist >> force of its own in Africa and elsewhere. > > are you referring to Chinese fixed investment in Africa? Lenin _et al_ > saw that kind of investment as a symptom of imperialism, but it might > be a symptom of something else. After all, European capitalists invest > in the U.S. and vice-versa without it being imperialism. To my mind, > foreign investment is "imperialist" only when it involves some kind of > domination.
Yes I was referring to Chinese (and Indian too) investments in Africa. It is a complicated issue - it can easily be argued that China is well aware of its own colonial past and also that its investments are bringing a lot of development to areas neglected by the West. On the other hand the relationship is hardly a coalition of equals. There are no illusions about who is dictating the terms of this partnership. Even given the best intentions, can such an unbalanced relationship possibly not become exploitative? Can China resist its mercantile tendencies which the US is strong enough to absorb, but certainly not Africa? http://en.internationalism.org/wr/299/china-africa Another bad sign: the Chinese state media has recently been loudly denying China's imperialist ambitions in Africa. "Never believe anything until it is officially denied" etc.. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/23/content_8235514.htm ----------------------------snip Eritrean President Isayas Afewerkion Thursday slammed those allegations that China is using Africa as a dumping ground. "Is China using Africa as a dumping ground? That is not the case," Isayas said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua, on the eve of the 15th founding anniversary of the State of Eritrea. "There may be incidents, there may be mistakes here and there, but this should not be the way we judge this partnership," he said. "At the moment what you can do, even the purchasing power does not allow people to go for expensive cars like Porsche, Ferrari. That is not the kind of thing people can afford now, may be the one or two out of millions can afford that," said Isayas. -raghu. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
