London, June 26, GNA -
As more Chinese companies invest in projects overseas - and millions of
its nationals travel abroad - Beijing will have to alter its
long-adhered principle of non-interference in the affairs of other
states, according to a new book.
China's Strong Arm: Protecting
citizens Abroad, launched at the International Institute for Strategic
Studies in London last week, argues that China will have to become
involved in other countries in order to protect its interests and
citizens.
For instance, in the wake of the Libyan uprising in 2011, China evacuated almost 36,000 of its citizens working in Libya.
Earlier
this year, Beijing sent a combat battalion to join the UN peace-keeping
mission in South Sudan, where China has huge oil interests.
This
decision was not without controversy. 'During the mandate negotiations,
the UN Department of Peace-keeping Operations expressed reservations
that explicitly including the protection of [Chinese] oil workers could
impair the neutrality of the UN mission,' the authors write.
'However, China got its way, even though the Chinese troops were not stationed near South Sudan's oil fields, but in Juba.'
The
growth of Chinese migrants in Africa has been exponential over the last
few years, and this is causing problems for Beijing, which is trying to
monitor the movements of Chinese nationals on the continent.
For
instance, although China evacuated some 36,000 Chinese workers in
Libya, only 6,000 had been registered at the Chinese embassy in Tripoli.
Chinese
companies frequently bring in their own workers from China, providing
little employment for Africans and few opportunities for them to master
new skills and technologies.
Then, once these projects are completed, many of the migrant workers just stay in the country - most of them illegally.
They then get involved in illegal activities that have created tension within the local communities in which they operate.
This
was the case in Ghana in 2013 when illicit gold mining by Chinese
illegal immigrant led to the Ghanaian government having to step in.
According
to the book, various Chinese government agencies, including the
Ministry of Public Security, sent a mission to Ghana to hold discussions
with the government.
The book notes: 'The team also met with illegal miners and urged them to shift to legal activities or return to China.
'Before the joint working team arrived in Ghana in June 2013, Accra had launched a crackdown on illegal mining.
'Some 1,072 Chinese - all from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region - flew back to the homeland as a result of the crackdown.'
The
authors say that the shift in Chinese foreign policy towards a more
interventionist approach abroad has not been the result of grand
strategy, but an adjustment to unfolding events.
Many in Africa
believe that Chinese investment and influence on the continent will
offer a way of lifting the standards of living of Africans.
They
greeted the arrival of the Chinese as big economic players in the
region, which began in the mid-1990s, with great enthusiasm - especially
the leaders of states whose economies depend heavily on minerals.
China's share of the global consumption of refined metals rose from five per cent in the early 1990s to 45 per cent in 2010.
The
country's oil consumption increased five-fold during the same period.
In 2002, Chinese trade with Africa was worth 13 billion dollars; a mere
decade later, that figure had soared to 180 billion dollars, three times
the value of US trade with 
 the continent.
At the same time,
China has been competing directly with Western countries in Africa by
providing less stringent loan conditions, which have been welcomed by
governments that face sharp credit restrictions or economic embargoes.
Private
and state-owned Chinese companies are also involved in major
infrastructure projects for which generous loans have been provided.
One
country that has seen a huge rise in Chinese projects is Djibouti,
whose government has been cautioned by the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) not to be too over-reliant on Chinese financial largesse because
this is increasing Djibouti's external debt, 60 per cent of which, it is
reported, is owed to China.
In January this year, the Executive
Board of the IMF concluded a consultation with the government of
Djibouti, noting that the country was enjoying strong economic growth
supported by an 'ambitious infrastructure programme aimed at reducing
widespread poverty and unemployment'.
The IMF cautioned, though:
'… the debt-financed investments have increased fiscal and external debt
vulnerabilities. Directors urged the authorities to take steps to
ensure a sustainable fiscal and external debt path.'
Critics of
Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh say he is pushing ahead
relentlessly with Chinese-funded projects as part of his plan to extend
his term of office in 2016 for a fourth tenure after the National
Assembly removed the two-term limits on the presidency in 2010.
But
the critics warned that such over-reliance on Chinese financing could
prove critical for the country if the government was unable to repay
this huge debt to China.
Last month, Doualeh Egueh Ofleh of the
opposition Union for National Salvation in Djibouti, warned that the
country would be in serious trouble if it defaulted on its debt to
China.
"When we take the loans from the World Bank and Western
institutions, there is some control. Now with the Chinese, we take all
possible loans for all projects without any control," he told AFP.
Indeed,
Djibouti has had cause to challenge the costs of Chinese projects such
as the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway Project, part-funded by Chinese
companies.
Earlier this year, Djibouti accused China Civil
Engineering and Construction Corporation (CCECC) of being $24 million
over budget on the project.
China is said to be using 'soft
power' to extend it influence in Djibouti through funding huge capital
infrastructure projects. China has had an embassy in Djibouti since 1979
and Djibouti opened its embassy in Beijing in 2001.
The authors
of China's Strong Arm note: 'The large risk appetite of state-owned
Chinese business is inexorably drawing the Chinese state into security
hotspots, and as China becomes a great power its people are openly
calling on their government to protect compatriots caught in crises
overseas, including via military measures.'
At the same time many in Africa are asking what will happen when their governments fail to repay money owed to China.
'The
World Bank has advised African countries to borrow sensibly but in the
case of China and Africa, caution has been thrown to the wind as
governments on the continent quickly accept Chinese money without fully
considering the implications of this,' noted one analyst in Nairobi.
