China-Africa: Reassessing the neocolonialism smear

Editor's note: China and Africa share a longstanding friendship, respecting, appreciating and supporting each other consistently during the past several decades. The results of their cooperation in infrastructure development, agriculture, healthcare and education have been undeniable. However, some Western media and politicians continue to accuse China of debt traps, neo-colonialism and more. CGTN's new series "China-Africa Cooperation: Debunking Western Myths" aims to put the record straight. This is the fifth article in the series. Fikrejesus Amahazion, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is an educator and research analyst at the Eritrean Center for Strategic Studies in Asmara. His areas of interest include human rights, political economy, and international development, with a focus on Africa. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN. 

Over the past few decades, one of the most conspicuous developments on the African continent has been the meteoric rise of China-Africa relations. China is now distinguished as Africa's largest bilateral trading partner – a position it has maintained since 2009, while Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to the continent have likewise grown sharply.

China has been making an active effort to help African countries, providing them with a new source of infrastructure, mining, and energy financing. The contours of the dynamic and fruitful bilateral relationship have also extended to encompass an array of other fields, including culture and education, digital infrastructure and technology, agriculture, and health cooperation.

However, the tight bonds forged between China and Africa have increasingly become the target of fierce criticisms and a slew of misconceived perceptions. Mainly perpetuated by Western media, policymakers, and other actors in the West, these attacks have portrayed the China-Africa relationship in an unjustifiably harsh negative light, and they are characterized by paternalistic warnings to Africans of the supposed dangers of neocolonialism by China.

Carefully dissecting the narrative and closely reviewing the basic, fundamental facts reveal that these criticisms are unfounded and far from the truth. For one, China has no history of colonialism in Africa or other areas, nor does it have any history of militarily invading and occupying other states in Africa or anywhere else. In fact, it is Africa and China that have a shared history of subjugation and oppression at the hands of the West.

What is more, the historical record shows that following its own revolution and founding, China extended a range of economic and technical support to an array of African liberation movements that were fighting to free their nations from the shackles of Western colonial rule.

Rather than practicing neocolonialism in Africa, China's engagement on the continent, rooted in mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and a win-win approach, has actively helped the continent in its decolonization and developmental efforts.

Over the years, China has assisted the building or renovation of countless dams, bridges, roads, railways, airports, ports, telecommunications networks, hospitals and health facilities, schools, power stations and transmission lines, and other infrastructure across the continent. This has been critical for African integration and connectivity, promoting energy access, increasing trade and industrialization, and addressing substantial bottlenecks which have long held back the continent's aspirations for sustainable development.

Within health, China has extended multifaceted support, including through financing the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, dispatch of volunteer medical teams, donation of medical supplies and equipment, and capacity-building, all of which have combined to improve levels of access, care, and wellbeing.

Similarly, China's assistance for African education and technical areas, reflected in thousands of scholarships, provision of training opportunities, and establishment of initiatives like Confucius Institutes and Luban Workshops, have helped to raise human capital, allowed youth to reach their full potential, and reinforced Africa's drive for industrialization and modernization.

Notably, the China-Africa partnership has led to the establishment of economic and trade cooperation zones in numerous African nations. This has contributed to the development of hundreds of businesses, creation of much-needed jobs for locals (especially youth) and attracted billions of U.S. dollars in investment flows. Africa and China also support each other within international affairs, and their mutually beneficial cooperation stands as a model for South-South cooperation.

An inherent problem with the attacks on China-Africa cooperation is that they are extremely patronizing and deny the inherent agency and capacity of Africans. Contrary to the narrative propagated by some in the West, Africans are not passive, helpless victims, but instead rational actors fully capable of defining their own interests and advocating for partnerships that genuinely contribute to their long-term development and progress.

It is also worth considering the views of Africans themselves. Results from a long series of public opinion surveys and reports conducted over the years, ranging from Afrobarometer and Gallup to Pew and scholarly studies, indicate that, for the most part, Africans tend to hold positive opinions of China's engagement on the continent and embrace it as valuable developmental partner.

For Africans across the length and breadth of the continent, China's engagement has been anything but neocolonialism. Instead, it has supported socioeconomic growth and development, met the diverse needs of local communities, and helped to tangibly improve living standards.

So, what gives? What is behind the West's unremitting attempts to smear China through the label of neocolonialism? Simply, the fervid attacks are driven by the West's growing anxiety and insecurity about its own waning power and declining influence within the global system, combined with its complete inability to accept the reality of China's rise and success.

For the West, stuck as it is in a toxic zero-sum mentality, China's continued ascendancy is viewed solely through the prism of an imminent, sweeping threat and it must be contained, weakened, and undermined. Accordingly, China, and its positive and constructive relationship with Africa, which has delivered myriad tangible benefits to both sides while helping to usher in a new and multipolar global order, is targeted for malicious propaganda and slander under the guise of concern for Africa.

Nonetheless, despite the constant drumbeat of negativity and flood of politicized attacks, the indelible truth remains that the Africa-China relationship has contributed to an array of mutual benefits.

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