Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Political Implications of Burgeoning Africa-China Relations--A Presentation by Abayomi Azikiwe at the Left Forum

Political Implications of Burgeoning Africa-China Relations

U.S. imperialist militarism on the continent seeks to maintain dominance over growing efforts aimed at genuine independence

By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Note: This paper was presented by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, at the Left Forum on June 9, 2013. This presentation was made on a panel entitled "The People's Republic of China and U.S. Imperialism's 'Turn' to Asia" which was chaired by Monica Moorehead, editor of Marxism, Reparations & the Black Freedom Struggle." Other presentations were delivered by Fred Goldstein, author of "Low Wage Capitalism" and Deirdre Griswold, Editor-in-Chief of Workers World newspaper based in New York City. The Left Forum was held at Pace University in Lower Manhattan in New York City.
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There has been a considerable amount of discussion and debate over the growing economic and political relations between the People’s Republic of China and the African Union member-states. China is reported now to be the largest trading partner with the 54 independent states on the continent.

Since the 1949 Socialist Revolution in China, the country has made tremendous strides in economic development and political status. In just six-and-a-half decades China has grown into the second largest economic power globally. Beijing’s opinions and political alliances are always taken into consideration by various imperialist states as well as developing countries of the so-called Global South.

In 2000, the Forum on Africa-China Cooperation (FOCAC) was formed. Over the last thirteen years, some five summits of this organization have been held with concrete results that have been beneficial to both Africa and the China.

China is still a socialist state despite the adoption of capitalist methods of production and trade. The government is controlled by the Communist Party and central planning of the economy provides the country with an advantage that is lacking within Europe and North America where the anarchy of capitalist production has driven down the living standards of working people and rendered hundreds of millions to unemployment, poverty, social insecurity and escalating political repression.

This phenomenon of central planning is a key factor in its attractiveness to African and Latin American states in regard to economic partnerships. Projects between China and Africa have resulted in the advent of agricultural, industrial, medical and educational projects.

As I wrote in 2010, “A major impediment to economic development in Africa and other former colonial territories in the world has been the legacy of imperialism and its stronghold on the productive forces within these states. The phenomenon of neocolonialism has hampered so-called Third World countries from exercising their independence irrespective of the political and class character of the leadership within the developing nations.” (Africa Increases Trade With China, Others, Workers World, July 5, 2010)

This same article goes on to say that “In recent years numerous African governments have sought to increase their trade and economic cooperation with nations having similar histories of colonial domination. These efforts have caused much consternation in the West where the imperialist states have sought to maintain influence over the political direction taken by the developing countries.”

The History of Africa-China Relations in the Modern Era

What is often overlooked by the corporate media and the functionaries of U.S. imperialism is that relations between China and Africa blossomed during the period of the national liberation revolutions of the 1950s and 1960s. China played a significant role at the Bandung Conference in Indonesia in 1955 which led to the formation of the Non-Aligned Movement in 1960-61.

China under the Communist Party leadership of Mao Tse-Tung and Chou En-Lai, reached out to Africa by providing assistance and training to the independence movements through political and military support that was critical in the struggles taking place in Ghana, Guinea, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and other areas. In 1963, China issued two statements in support of the Civil Rights Movement of African Americans demanding full equality and the end to racism in the United States.

At the time of one of these statements of solidarity in 1963, Mao Tse-Tung was accompanied by leading figures in the national liberation movements on the African continent. At this time the mass struggles of African Americans were reaching their heights with thousands being jailed and beaten for their efforts aimed at ending legalized segregation throughout the South and the North.

In 1964, Chou En-Lai visited several African states. When the Communist Party leader and Premier of the PRC stopped over in Ghana then under the leadership of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, a revolutionary Pan-Africanist and socialist, Chou stated that “Africa was ripe for revolution.”

China granted political asylum to African American revolutionary Robert F. Williams who was driven out of the U.S. by the southern racist backed up by the FBI. Williams was instrumental in Mao’s issuance of the solidarity statements of 1963 and the later efforts in 1968 in the aftermath of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

After the assassination of Dr. King, rebellions erupted in at least 125 cities across the U.S. Mao issued yet another statement of solidarity saying that China would stand with the African American people in their struggle for freedom and that these efforts should seek the elimination of capitalism and imperialism throughout the world.

Other African American leaders would be hosted by China during this period including Stokely Carmichael, W.E.B. Du Bois, Shirley Graham Du Bois as well as Elaine Brown and Huey P. Newton of the Black Panther Party. Later in 1992, when African Americans and Latinos rose up in rebellion in response to the Rodney King beatings and the failure of an all-white jury to convict the cops on criminal charges, China also released a statement in solidarity with the uprisings which started in Los Angeles but extended to 28 cities around the country.

With specific reference to Africa, a report issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in 2010 it noted “that trade between Africa and China had increased by 1,000 percent during the period 2000-2008. Today (2010) China accounts for 11 percent of the continent’s external trade, with the bulk of transactions taking place in the sectors of primary products, including fuel and minerals.” (Africa and Imperialism, Abayomi Azikiwe, 2011)

In the same above-mentioned article by this writer, it states that “In contrast to the legacy of trade between Africa and the Western imperialist states, trade with China has been important in fostering economic and social development. UNCTAD economist Janvier Nkurunziza refutes allegations by Western-based media sources that China’s increasing role in Africa is not benefitting the continent.”

Nkurunziza says, “The challenge is for Africa to find ways to harness and manage this relationship for better development outcomes.” Nkurunziza does not perceive China’s growing relationship with Africa as a “new form of colonialism,” arguing that this emerging economic cooperation was based on the principles of “mutual respect, reciprocal benefits, respect for sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs” of the continent. (Engineering News, June 18, 2010)

Two African states that have been targeted by the imperialists for regime-change, Zimbabwe and Sudan, are both supported and defended by China within the UN Security Council by successfully blocking further sanctions against these governments. China has developed economic and political relations with Sudan and Zimbabwe, playing an instrumental role in preventing the economic collapse of Harare during the period of aggressive sanctions against the ZANU-PF government of President Robert Mugabe.

Earlier in 2013, the first major foreign policy conference attended by the new Chinese President and General Secretary of the Communist Party, Xi Jiping, was the BRICS Summit that was attended by over 4,000 people in the Republic of South Africa. Xi then visited other African states where he pledged to continue China’s long term relations with the AU member-states.

Refuting Imperialist Attacks Against China in Building Solidarity With Africa

With the development of China-Africa relations in the most recent period, the U.S. and its agents are attempting to distort the character of these joint projects. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Africa during 2012 and stated indirectly that China represented a colonial threat to the continent.

Such a statement represents the absurdity of Washington’s approach to foreign policy. The U.S., which is the leading threat to Africa and the peoples of world, has never supported any genuine liberation movement or progressive government in Africa and therefore has no moral basis for any criticism or condemnation of China’s role on the continent.

The recent wave of militarism on the continent of Africa is in part based on efforts by U.S. imperialism to stifle and reverse China’s partnership with the continent. These military threats and campaigns by the U.S. are also being replicated in Asia and the South Pacific as well.

The deployment of U.S. naval forces in the South China Sea, the escalation of hostilities against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the dispatching of military troops to Australia are all aimed at attempts to “contain China.” The provocative claims of the Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel charging China with “cyber espionage” against the U.S. is following the same hostile line of confrontation against Beijing.

Anti-imperialist and anti-war forces inside the U.S. must defend China against these unwarranted claims and provocations. Genuine left organizations inside the U.S. and other imperialist states must push for a principled stand by progressive forces towards China.

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