10
Mar
South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, just got slapped with the UNSC’s latest set of international sanctions, with China, in a remarkable reversal of its policy of aloofness concerning the internal affairs of other states, signing off on the Washington-backed resolution. Only a few years before, Beijing had categorically refused to intervene in the catastrophic Darfur crisis, propping up the murderous regime of Omar al-Bashir.
Midwifed by the U.S. and propped up by China’s hunger for its oil, South Sudan quickly descended into chaos after declaring its independence in 2011 over a power sharing disagreement. In a prelude to the crisis, President Salva Kiir of the powerful Dinka ethnic group sacked his Vice President Riek Machar of the Nuer tribe in July 2013, claiming he was plotting to overthrow the government. Since international diplomats had previously failed to address the growing fractures within the ruling party, the South Sudanese army separated along ethnic lines almost immediately, plunging the country into a devastating civil war. In the ensuing violence, 2 million people were displaced and tens of thousands lost their lives, as the loyalist militias of Kiir and Machar clashed.
In an unprecedented move, China broke with its long-standing principle of non-intervention and sent a full infantry battalion of UN peacekeepers to protect civilians and South Sudan’s fragile oil infrastructure. The country accounts for 5% of Beijing’s crude imports and China’s state owned oil company CNPC holds a 40% stake in one of the South Sudan’s biggest oil fields.
Key oil infrastructure in Sudan and South Sudan. Source EIA.
However, agreeing on sanctions is just the tip of the iceberg and does not signify that Washington and Beijing will always be on the same page in Africa. South Sudan is just one of the many African countries where the uneasy tensions between the two countries will be neutralized. Indeed, as Casie Copeland of the International Crisis Group correctly observed, “The ability of the United States and China to work toward a common strategy for peace in South Sudan is a test case for their ability to work together on the continent and beyond.”
But will Washington and Beijing ever be able to truly cooperate in Africa?
Locking horns in Africa
Both Washington and Beijing view Africa as a long-term strategic partner and have taken steps in recent years to expand their relationship. Since 2009, China is the continent’s number one trading partner, overtaking the European Union and the US alike by a considerable margin. In reaction, the Obama administration laid out plans in 2014 for a massive $33 billion investment plan, meant to promote good governance and job creation in the region. The West’s decreasing clout with Africa and China’s increasing presence is one of the biggest shifts in power distribution taking place in the world today.
Unfortunately, the utterly different approaches undertaken by the two powers in their bilateral relations with African countries have put them on a collision course. While China uses a pragmatic business model that treats African states as equal partners and focuses on investment and building infrastructure, the American strategy predicates aid on building strong institutions and expanding democratic processes. Naturally, authoritarian African leaders were eager to strike up deals with China, snubbing the West and its demands for political reform. By maintaining this status quo, Beijing has knowingly encouraged and perpetuated the same corrupt and dictatorial systems that made the humanitarian disasters such a Darfur possible in the first place.
But in recent years, the Chinese model has been slowly evolving towards a more hands-on approach. As the South Sudan crisis showed, Beijing will not shy away from getting involved if its interests are at stake (in this case, oil). Consequently, it has realized that ascending to global power status will require developing an equally powerful security network. Beijing has already made some steps in that direction, signing defense agreements with most of the countries in East Africa in order to capitalize on their strategic position as gateways to the continent. Indeed, Djibouti, Kenya, Madagascar, and Mozambique inked such agreements, while specific joint training programs were initiated with Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, and South Africa. Thus far, frictions between China and the West have been of low intensity, but as the Middle Kingdom’s military footprint expands, Beijing will invariably clash with the U.S.’ own agenda. Worse, some African nations will increasingly turn their backs on their long-term Western allies.
The first signs are visible in the microscopic East African nation of Djibouti where the U.S. has built its biggest African military base. Nevertheless, in spite of substantial American interests there, President Ismail Omar Guelleh has run afoul of his commitments to Washington when he signed a defense agreement with China last year. There is now talk of building a Chinese military base in the country, a move that will not go unnoticed in the White House. Furthermore, Djibouti’s government called on China for “assistance with surveillance, including radar, and additional places at China’s military training centers”, and declared its readiness to allow Chinese ships to access its ports and enhance military cooperation. Guelleh, currently serving his 3rd consecutive presidential term, has also embraced several multi-billion dollar investments sponsored by China, which, unlike American aid, come with no strings attached. The U.S State Department has been highly critical of the President’s autocratic impulses, decrying its record of “harassing, abusing, and detaining government critics”.
China’s rise in Africa should worry stakeholders with long-term commitments in the region. But countering Chinese influence shouldn’t discourage them from pushing for better governance and stronger political institutions. For all the promises of billions of dollars in investments, and its change of tack in South Sudan, China is still acting as the continent’s main sponsor of authoritarianism. Washington will not stay on the sidelines.
Source: http://www.eurasiareview.com/06032015-south-sudan-is-bellwether-for-us-china-relations-in-africa-analysis/