Angola was originally a colony of Portugal until it achieved independence in 1975. In the years that followed Angola would be entrenched in a terrible civil war that ravaged the land and destroyed the infrastructure of the country. This war also served as an extension of the cold war as the Soviet Union and the United States allied themselves with the competing factions in Angola. The Soviet Union supported the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the United States supported the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). The result of this twenty-seven year civil war which ended in 2002 was a massive humanitarian and economic crisis which engulfed the entire country. Before the war began, Angola was a very rich agricultural country with a strong tradition of family-based farming; Angola was self-sufficient in all crops except for wheat. That would all change as the civil war ravaged the country. After the war, the continued presence of millions of landmines impeded agricultural settlement in the countryside and lead to urbanized impoverishment throughout the country. But Angola did still have massive oil and diamond reserves throughout the country just waiting to be exploited by different countries. And just at this point, as the civil war ended, China would fill the void.
At this time, China was just launching a new initiative known as its “Going Out” strategy which aimed at securing new investment markets along with resources. Angola was the perfect target. During the past seven years, China has given over ten billion dollars in credit to Angola in exchange for oil. Trade between the two countries had reached over twenty-five billion by 2009 and Angola is China’s leading source of foreign oil imports. And not only is it just oil, China is now the second main consumer of diamonds in the world (the U.S. of course being #1) and most of those diamonds come presumably from Angola.
China has also imported thousands of workers from China to work on building projects for the country. Apparently, it is hard to walk through the streets of Luanda (the capital of Angola) without seeing a Chinese construction site. Chinese companies are involved in all levels of building and repairing the infrastructure of Angola. Everything from streets, railroads, hospitals, schools, residential buildings and airports are being built by Chinese workers who make about three times more working in Angola compared to China. This has led to much discrimination by the Angolan people who feel that the Chinese workers are taking the only jobs available in Angola away from them and into the hands of the Chinese. Additionally, many Chinese building projects have been proved half hazard and inadequate to the needs of the people who are not even considered when they are being built. Residential housing projects are being built on the basis of Chinese models with no consideration for what the people of Angola want. The first public hospital in Angola that was built by the Chinese began to literally fall apart directly after its opening (repairs have still not been made) and there are reports that Chinese built roads have been literally swept away by heavy rainfall all over the country.
For many Angolans, the involvement of China in Angola has led to an optimistic view of their country’s future on the world stage but to many other Angolans it is seen as an occupation bent on money that takes jobs away from natives and produces shady constructs.
http://theglobalrealm.com/2011/02/03/questions-about-china%E2%80%99s-win-win-relationship-with-angola/
http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/new-imperialism-china-angola
http://oilprice.com/Geo-Politics/Africa/Chinas-Waning-Influence-in-Angola.html
http://www.macauhub.com.mo/en/2011/07/11/angola-reaps-%E2%80%9Cimmense-rewards%E2%80%9D-from-cooperation-with-china/
You need to be critical of foreign development projects in the developing world. They usually look good on the surface, but in many cases the development efforts do more harm than good simply by setting up an economic community that the land’s native people cannot participate in. For instance housing complexes may be too expensive for the native people to actually afford, and they could simply become “settlements” for foreign workers. It is possible for foreign investors working in the developing world to do business in a way that is beneficial for all parties involved, but it is equally possible for the situation to degrade into what could be considered a modern form of colonialism.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that China has a very neocolonial hold in Angola. I think one of the biggest problems accompanying neocolonialism is that the country controlling the economic resources, China in this situation, does not have any political or long-term obligations to a developing country such as Angola and its citizens. Such obligations would imply a need to care for the current and future well-being of the native people (although this was certainly often ignored in colonial regimes in the past). If China had a bond with Angola that wasn’t likely to end with the eventual depletion of Angola’s diamond and oil resources, the public works and developments invested in Angola might be of a much better quality.
ReplyDeleteI agree with my fellow bloggers. To expand on Marlee and Matts comments, I believe China is taking a step to become a dominant world power. From history, you can evaluate that to show your strength you must make your presence known. Hence, the British colonies in the Caribbean, Americas, Africa, and Asia, Spain’s colonies in Latin and South America, and the French colonies in Africa and the Americas. Even though a few variety of nations still have some influence in the former colony governments, China is beginning to becoming a global partner in developing countries. The public should not worry about this action, however, with this partnership with Angola, I would not be surprised if China began to exploit these people just for their natural resources.
ReplyDeleteIt’s not surprising that china is the most developed country in the world right now. They have really good habit of finding no name nations that nobody cares about and exploiting them for all their worth (Nepal and Korea). The revenue heads in China are light years ahead of whatever impoverished third world nation they choose to swindle into trading with. The managed to convince Angola to give them Diamonds and Oil, two of the most valuable resources on earth, and all Angola got in return was a hospital that is about as state of the art as that Operator board game.
ReplyDeleteFor many Angolans, the involvement of China seems promising for the country’s future, but the reality is the Chinese are taking jobs away from native Angolans and producing subpar building projects under false pretenses. Organizer Dr. Marcus Power, from the University of Durham, told IPS that “A lot of Chinese building projects in Angola are being billed as aid or development but they are not — they are business transactions.” I agree that what China is doing is wrong (maybe not as adamantly as Nick ha-ha) but sometimes that is the way business goes. Things don’t always turn out as they were originally presented, everyone wants the most they can get for the least it will cost them, and people looking to make a buck usually have no problem taking advantage of the weak. I’m not advocating that what the Chinese is doing is right, however, I don’t think it’s exactly uncommon.
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