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Editor 's note: This is part of a series of articles on Chinese involvement in Africa.
Since late June, senior military officials from Mali, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and dozens of other African countries are meeting. to discuss defense strategies and security threats.
The meeting did not take place in a large African city, but thousands of kilometers away, in Beijing, China
. , a highly publicized showcase of expanding military partnerships hosted by the Chinese Ministry of National Defense.
The Forum, concluded on July 11, consolidates China's position as a key security partner in Africa and coincides with
Ideology, Economics, Politics
Paul Nantulya, associate researcher at Africa Center who is interested in Sino-African relations Security, told VOA that China's military involvement in Africa mixes ideology, economics and politics.
China's presence on the continent dates back to the liberation struggles of the 1960s, when it supported anti-colonial and anti-apartheid movements in South Africa, Algeria, Sudan and in other countries based on what Nantulya called "ideological concerns".
When former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping came to power in the late 1970s, unprecedented reforms paved the way for China's rise as an economic powerhouse. "The military engagement that China has on the continent has become much more complex than just an extension of its ideologies. "Increasingly, we are also beginning to see military exchanges between African countries and China, and these exchanges cover a range of issues, from peacekeeping to disaster response, to military construction. construction of the military, professional military education, "he added."
Clear Objectives
African military officials at the defense forum told CGTV, a Chinese state broadcaster, that they had well-defined expectations as to their goals. partnerships with China.
"What we demand from China, which is very clear, is that they provide us with the partnership, the support, the expertise, the technical capacity, the capacity building, infrastructure, for us to be able to do the work ourselves, "said Lieutenant General Masanneh Nyuku Kinteh of the Armed Forces of The Gambia
But if African nations see China as a strategic partner, China sees, at least partially, potential customers. Nantulya said that China is a major player in the global arms supply chain and that it is looking for markets.
Chinese manufacturers have used their growing presence in Africa and generous government subsidies to produce cheaper and cheaper military equipment. While Western countries are focusing on heavy equipment – jets, tanks, rockets – China's source of revenue has long been small arms, including AK-47 pistols and assault rifles, said Nantulya
. sell them, as well as ammunition, bullet-proof armor and unmanned aerial vehicles, not only to the African military but also to the police and intelligence forces
, a country whose military industry has helped China to develop. Algeria, Mozambique and Zimbabwe also import many Chinese weapons. And this portfolio is becoming more diverse, including tank agreements and technical coaching training with South Sudan and Uganda, Nantulya said. partners such as Angola, Libya and Tanzania, to more recent relations with Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti.
In each case, China seeks to strengthen its military ties with party-to-party relations, Nantulya said. "China invites the leaders of these parties to power in these different countries in Beijing, a program run by the party school [Central]," he added, referring to the institution that forms Communist Party officials.
Through this year-round program, China promotes its ideologies and large-scale initiatives combining political propaganda and defense strategy and tactics.
Robert Mugabe, who led Zimbabwe for 37 years. Many analysts suspected that China was playing a role in what some saw as a military coup
Chiwenga becomes Vice President of Zimbabwe.
China presents itself as a different partner for African countries wishing to see their sovereignty respected. Rather than subordinate development aid to political reforms or a military power project, China is indirectly pursuing its security objectives.
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a trillion from China, serves as a stepping stone to a growing military presence. The global dollar development program, which has served as a backdrop for many emerging African relations
BRI projects – railways, dams, ports and a new sprawling free trade zone in Djibouti – could accelerate the industrialization of Africa. In many cases, they also involve a permanent Chinese presence and an investment to protect.
"This is a huge – footprint massive, "said Nantulya. "China is therefore coordinating its military approach to be able to secure some of these interests".
China is also more involved in peacekeeping missions to expand its military footprint.
"They have been much more willing to deploy peacekeepers to places like … Darfur, South Sudan, they are much more willing to take that kind of risk, but these kinds of risks are not there. "Nantulya
has so far been accompanied by prerequisites, but it has also limited the movements that China can do and how it is presented to the world." potential partners
"China was Nantulya said:
That would prevent strikes for eruptions or other demonstrations of manifest power. China considers its base in Djibouti, for example, a "logistics facility".
But China is part of an elite group of countries that have such bases abroad. And at least one stipulation accompanies all its affairs: Countries must break diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a country that China considers as its own territory.
Equal partner?
To build solidarity, China stands as a developing country on par with its partners in South Asia, Latin America and Africa.
Shift. Mali's Ibrahima Dahirou Dembele stressed the shared interests at the Defense Forum, saying, "We are close to China culturally and historically and face challenges."
But the size of the Chinese economy surpasses any Africa, and A recent report from The New York Times on a port transfer to Sri Lanka shows that China can be an aggressive strategic partner.
Over the last decade, China has taken a stronger stance in the world," said Nantulya. in its intelligence, defense and security strategies, and inscribed in its foreign policy.
But China's speech on the "equal partner" lasted
. "China and African countries are nations in development, we are told, we are for a shared future community. "
This is a sentiment that recalls China's ideological participation on the continent in the 1960s and continues to resonate, despite ambitions that have become much larger and more complex.
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