*Topicality/Definitions Democracy Promotion Includes Military Intervention
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China CP: Chinese Aid EffectiveCHINESE AID TO AFRICA HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN IMPROVING AFRICAN ECONOMIC GROWTH He Wenping, Professor-Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 2010, Challenging the Aid Paradigm: Western Currents and Asian Alternatives, ed. J. S. Sorensen, p. 156-7 As a matter of fact, Chinese aid and investment in, and economic cooperation with, African nations have contributed significantly to the strong rebound of the African economy in recent years. The Chinese economy’s rapid growth has helped to raise the prices of primary products on the world market, which, in turn, increases the foreign exchange income of the African countries engaged in exporting primary products. It improves their foreign trade climate and strengthens their payment capabilities. Since the middle of the 1990s, the African economy has been growing at a rate of 5-6 per cent annually. And this is partly the result of the rapid price rise of raw materials and the increasing demand for raw materials by China and other emerging markets in Asia. In terms of investment, capital flows are now outpacing aid for the first time in Africa’s history. And China is diversifying the monopoly of investors in Africa and contributes a lot to the encouraging development trend. For example, once war-torn Angola has been employing double-digit economic growth in recent years because China helped build the country’s infrastructure. It also made large investments in the country. In 2006, the Angolan economy grew at a rate as high as 17 percent. Furthermore, since China’s provision of aid has a stronger focus on projects and is managed in a bilateral way, it normally acts more quickly and with shorter procedures. Sierra Leone’s ambassador to Beijing, Sahr Johnny, once said, “The Chinese are doing more than the G8 to make poverty history in Africa,” and “If a G8 country had wanted to rebuild the stadium, we’d still be holding meetings! The Chinese just come and do it. They don’t hold meetings about environmental impact assessment, human rights, bad governance and good governance. I’m not saying they are right, just that Chinese investment is succeeding because they don’t set high benchmarks. China’s aid in Africa has also promoted bilateral trade dramatically. The bilateral trade volume rose from US$12.11 million in the 1950s to US$10.5 billion in 2000, US$29.4 billion in 2004, nearly US$40 billion in 2005 and over US$70 billion in 2007. In recent years, China has increased imports from African countries and thus maintained a trade deficit with them, enabling these countries to earn a large amount of foreign exchange. For example, since China removed import tariffs on 454 separate categories from the 32 least developed countries in July 2007, some $450 million worth of duty free trade has entered the Chinese market from Africa. According to a Chinese expert utilizing a calculation in common use, the contribution of China-Africa trade to African economic growth has reached around 20 percent in recent years. As president Museveni of Uganda pointed out: “Aid by itself cannot change the society, only trade can promote durable economic increase and the development of the society.” China CP: Chinese Aid Effective – AT “No Resources”CHINESE ASSISTANCE EFFECTIVE – LACK OF RESOURCES NOT A PROBLEM Yahia Mohamed Mahmoud, Research Fellow-University of Lund, 2010, Challenging the Aid Paradigm: Western Currents and Asian Alternatives, ed. J. S. Sorensen, p. 209 The effects of China’s assistance to Africa have been widely ignored by Western academia. We have argued in this chapter that a closer look at the hundreds of Chinese projects in Africa might teach us significant lessons on how to assist and collaborate with African countries and communities on issues of economic and technological development. Despite all kinds of shifts and changes, both at domestic and international levels, China’s aid strategy has kept some sense of consistency. One can discern the following characteristics in China’s foreign aid: continuity, diversity and unity over space and time.
Marie Soderberg, Director European Institute for Japanese Studies-Stockholm School of Economics, 2010, Challenging the Aid Paradigm: Western Currents and Asian Alternatives, ed. J. S. Sorensen, p. 125-6 One characteristic of Chinese aid is that as a general rule it is primarily bilateral. The Chinese government has demonstrated little inclination to become involved in multilateral development initiatives. Involvement in such arrangements often is incompatible with the PRC’s policy of non-intervention. Just as the Chinese government at home always wanted to be in charge of its own development policy and has never participate in round-table discussions or other meetings arranged by donors to China, in its own aid giving the government has, with few exceptions, not been interested in joining hands with groups of donors abroad.
A third characteristic is that aid has been closely linked to securing access to major natural resources such as oil or precious metals. Oil in particular is of vital importance for the continuation of China’s own economic growth. Aid to Angola is a case in point. For Angola, which has now emerged as China’s biggest supplier of oil, China announced two credit lines totaling US$ 4.4 billion for “reconstruction and national development.” A significant portion of this is tied to the purchase of Chinese goods and services. Besides the oil industry, cooperation agreements have been signed in fields such as infrastructure, communications, agriculture, education and health care. A fourth characteristic is a high element of tied aid through the provision of commodities and services as well as technical cooperation. It is Chinese products that are provided and Chinese doctors and construction workers who are sent abroad. Agriculture is one area where China has long traditions, and so is capacity-building in the social sector, especially that related to science, health and education. A large number of African technicians are now receiving training in China. A further characteristic of Chinese aid is that it has involved a number of publicly visible features in the form of high-profile buildings such as stadiums, state houses and buildings housing parliaments. Such projects have a long tradition in Chinese support for Africa but have expanded significantly in recent years. At the FOCAC meeting in Beijing in 2006 President Hu Jintao pledged to build a conference center for the African Union. Finally, Chinese aid is characterized by an almost complete absence of political conditionality, with the exception of support for the “One China” principal. China’s aid policy builds on the principle of “non-interference in internal affairs.” There are usually no political strings attached to Chinese aid.
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