29 December 2006
Former U.S. Diplomat to Head China-Africa Relations Research Project
Ambassador Shinn, Chinese studies scholar will gauge effects on U.S. policy
Washington -- Former U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia David Shinn will travel to Beijing in January 2007 to study China-Africa relations and their effect on U.S. foreign policy.
After his initial visit, the adjunct professor at George Washington University's (GWU) Elliott School of International Affairs will be joined by a GWU research team in China to discuss global issues with its counterpart in the Chinese foreign-policy community, he told USINFO December 29.
Shinn said he is collaborating with Joshua Eisenman, a Mandarin speaker pursuing a doctorate in Chinese studies at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA). The research project is being financed by a private family foundation with support from the American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC) to study China-Africa relations.
RIGHT TIME FOR A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY
According to Shinn, the AFPC believes the time is right for a comprehensive study of China's policies, strategies and goals in Africa. The study will inform policymakers and the general public and are aimed at increasing mutual understanding, Shinn said.
"More dialogue between Americans and Chinese regarding their respective countries' policies in Africa will reduce the possibility for confusion and diminish the chances of miscalculations based on misguided or incomplete analysis of respective interests and intentions," he said.
Following their work in China, Shinn said, "Josh [Eisenman] and I will make a monthlong visit to six African countries to complete the overseas part of our China-Africa study." The end result will be "a book, a policy paper, probably some articles, and a one-day conference on the subject in Washington."
The diplomat turned scholar recently touched on some of the project's issues in a speech on China-Africa relations and their effect on U.S. interests. Shinn delivered the address in early December at the 2006 Oxford-Uehiro-Carnegie Council Conference in New York City.
"It is important to understand that China today enjoys a generally good reputation in Africa in nearly all aspects of its interaction, including trade and investment," Shinn told his audience. China is now Africa’s third-largest trading partner after the United States and France with trade between Africa and China reaching $40 billion in 2005 and projected to rise to $100 billion by 2010, he said.
African states find relations with China attractive, in part, because "there is no colonial baggage," Shinn said. "In some cases, especially in southern Africa, there are close Chinese ties going back to solidarity with national liberation movements. The Africans perceive China as a developing country -- albeit one with a seat on the U.N. Security Council -- which seeks to build south-south relationships."
On the Chinese side, Shinn said that nation "sees itself as a global power and leader of the developing world. For both political and economic reasons, it wants to cultivate good relations with the 53 nations in Africa."
SEEING CHINA FROM AN AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE
Although many in the West view China’s nonchalant attitude toward human rights in Africa as troublesome, it is important to see it from the African perspective, Shinn said.
For example, he said Sierra Leone’s ambassador to China recently summed up the position of many Africans on China’s role in Africa when he said: "The Chinese are doing more than the G8 [Group of Eight nations] to make poverty history. If a G8 country proposes a project for Sierra Leone, there is an environmental assessment and evaluation of the human rights and governance situation. The Chinese just come and do it. I’m not saying that it’s right, just that Chinese investments are succeeding because they don’t set high benchmarks.”
The G8 comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and Russia.
Shinn said there was some friction in the relationship between China and some African nations. "At the grassroots level there seems to be growing anti-Chinese sentiment when large numbers of Chinese are employed on Chinese projects and as Chinese traders move increasingly into the African market. There are, for example, an estimated 30,000 Chinese migrants in Zambia and as many as 300,000 in South Africa," he said.
Even though the U.S. government views Chinese support for repressive regimes like Sudan and Zimbabwe as troubling, it does not regard Chinese investment in Africa as a threat.
In December 2005, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer traveled to Beijing for a "strategic dialogue" with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Dai Bingguo, Assistant Foreign Minister for African Affairs Lu Guozeng and Director General for Policy Planning Du Qiwen. (See related article.)
After those meetings, Frazer said she did not believe that "China's interest or engagement in Africa is in direct competition to the United States."
"I think China has as great a right to engage in Africa as any other country, [and] there is enough good to be done" on the continent," she stressed.
For more information on U.S. policy in the region, see Africa.
The full text (PDF, 6 pages) of Shinn’s remarks to the Oxford-Uehiro-Carnegie Council Conference is available through the George Washington University Web site.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
