China and Africa

In a news item we read about the pledge of the Chinese to invest millions in the development of Africa and Africa peoples, principally an interest in business and economic development.

We witness that there are a lot of nay sayers also, who are coming up with the various problems that arise from this type of economic investments, from distrust of the motives of the Chinese to distrust of the business competence of the African people, including the well-known corruption of African businesses.

Certainly all African business professionals are not corrupt, however, if this is the perception it is problematically for honorable African business people to do business. So certainly the Chinese when doing business with African business people are going to have to work with these Africans to prove that these are honorable businesses and honorable business efforts. This is a problem of proof for both the Chinese and the Africans.

It’s also possible that the nay sayers are corrupt in their motives.

Nevertheless, we don’t want the Africans again to become the pawns of another people. Certainly the Chinese might make better colonials than the Europeans, nevertheless we don’t want the Africans to just become the pawns of another colonial power after their own self-interests and not the interests of African peoples.

Nevertheless, this is something for African peoples to determine. It’s good that the Chinese are interested in doing business with African peoples, and are taking an interest in the development of the peoples of Africa. It’s good if the Africans are able to relate to the Chinese.

Certainly Europeans who are concerned about both "colored peoples" are going to be wary of this coalition, and possibly might try to disrupt it.

If so, it’s probably not going to be the type of disruption that you even notice European involvement.

The Chinese and Africans are going to have to make sure that they work together wisely and that both have a perceptual problem as it involves Western powers and Western hegemony. Much of these perceptual problems are stereotypes that Westerners have of non-Westerners, others have been the mistakes, misdirections and corruptions of the peoples themselves. Yet, no different than the mistakes, misdirections, and corruptions of European peoples.

Nevertheless, we applaud the interest of the Chinese in the African peoples and the interest of the African peoples in the Chinese peoples. However, the interests of neither should be just rank "self-interests."

The Chinese and Africans in working together on these projects should learn from their own histories and the histories of other peoples.

And if the Chinese just want to be the world’s new colonials, don’t make the same mistakes as the world’s old colonials.

But in the meantime–message to the schoolchildren–continue to learn Chinese.