Analysis of the Chinese Foreign Policy on the Crisis Regions in Africa: The Case Studies of Darfur and South Sudan
Ragıp Kutay Karaca, Müge YüceAfrica, as a continent with which China has intensified its bilateral relations most, has been at the forefront of the Chinese foreign policy in recent years. However, certain economic aspects of the Chinese foreign policy towards Sub-Saharan Africa have been construed by some as a sort of “neo-colonialism”. There are mainly differing aspects in China’s energy and trade relations with the countries in the region that cause these discourses on “colonialism”. The giant investments int the energy sectors of Sub-Saharan Africa countries and the trade-surplus in bilateral trade in favour of China make African countries dependent on China. Owing to this one-sided dependency, there are fears that China is seeking to establish alternative power relations in Africa. Having said that, Chinese efforts for mediation in crisis areas in Africa and its cooperation with international organizations for the resolution of conflicts require a re-assessment of these threats perceived from or constituted against China. For instance, although China opposed the deployment of UN Peacekeeping Operations in the crisis areas in 1990s, it has been actively taking part in five of seven operations as of 2019. In this article, a historical evaluation of the Chinese foreign policy towards Sub-Saharan Africa has been made, and the place of Africa in the Chinese policy has been explained with reference to support given to the UN Peacekeeping Operations in Darfur and South Sudan crisis areas.
Çin’in Afrika Kriz Bölgelerindeki Dış Politikasının Analizi: Darfur ve Güney Sudan Örnekleri
Ragıp Kutay Karaca, Müge YüceÇin dış politikasında son yıllarda karşılıklı ilişkilerin en yüksek ivmeyi kazandığı kıta olarak Afrika ön plana çıkmaktadır. Öyle ki, Çin’in Sahraaltı Afrika’da yürüttüğü dış politikanın ekonomik boyutu Afrika’nın “yeni sömürgecilik” faaliyetlerine maruz bırakıldığı yönünde yorumlar yapılmasına yol açmaktadır. Çin dış politikasının Afrika açılımının temelini oluşturan ve “sömürgecilik” söylemlerine yol açan sebeplerin başında Çin’in bölge ülkeleri ile kurduğu enerji ilişkileri ile ticari ilişkilerin niteliği gelmektedir. Çin tarafından Sahraaltı Afrika ülkelerinin enerji sektörlerine yapılan dev yatırımlar ve Çin lehine fazla veren karşılıklı ticaret, Afrika ülkelerinin Çin’e bağımlı hale gelmelerine yol açmaktadır. Bu tek taraflı bağımlılık durumu, Çin’in Afrika’da alternatif güç ilişkileri kurmaya çalıştığı yönünde bir tehdit algısının oluşmasına zemin hazırlamaktadır. Fakat son yıllarda Çin’in Afrika’daki kriz bölgelerinde üstlenmiş olduğu arabuluculuk rolü ve bu krizlerin çözülmesi için uluslararası örgütlerle kurduğu iş birliği, Çin’e yönelik oluş(turul)an tehdit algısının yeniden yorumlanmasını gerektirmektedir. Nitekim 1990’lı yıllara kadar kriz bölgelerinde konuşlandırılacak BM Barışı Koruma Operasyonları’na karşı muhalif tutumundan taviz vermeyen Çin, 2019 itibariyle Afrika’da yürütülen yedi operasyondan beş tanesinde aktif şekilde yer almaktadır. Bu çalışmada Çin’in Sahraaltı Afrika’da sürdürdüğü dış politika tarihsel açıdan ele alınmış ve Afrika’nın Çin dış politikasındaki yeri, Darfur ve Güney Sudan kriz bölgelerinde yürütülen BM Barışı Koruma Operasyonları’na verilen destek üzerinden açıklanmaya çalışılmıştır.
Africa, as a continent with which China has intensified its bilateral relations most, has been at the forefront of the Chinese foreign policy in recent years. However, certain economic aspects of the Chinese foreign policy towards Sub-Saharan Africa have been construed by some as a sort of “neo-colonialism”. There are mainly differing aspects in China’s energy and trade relations with the countries in the region that cause these discourses on “colonialism”. The giant investments in the energy sectors of Sub-Saharan Africa countries and the trade-surplus in bilateral trade in favour of China make African countries dependent on China. Owing to this one-sided dependency, there are fears that China is seeking to establish alternative power relations in Africa. Having said that, the Chinese efforts for mediation in crisis areas in Africa and its cooperation with international organizations for the resolution of conflicts require a re-assessment of these threats perceived from or constituted against China.
In this article, a historical evaluation of the Chinese foreign policy towards Sub-Saharan Africa has been made, and the place of Africa in the Chinese policy has been explained with reference to support given to the UN Peacekeeping Operations in Darfur and South Sudan crisis areas. Although China opposed the deployment of UN Peacekeeping Operations in the crisis areas in 1990s, it has been actively taking part in five of seven operations as of 2019. Indeed, China’s attitude towards the UN Peacekeeping Operations has evolved from abstention to military and financial support. The changing attitude towards UN Peacekeeping Operations has resulted in increased financial support provided by China to UNPKO budget. While China contributed 3.9% to the UN Peacekeeping Operations budget in 2012, this rate reached 10.3% as of 2018.
It is seen that China has an active role in crisis regions in Africa as compared to other regions and contributes the most to the Peacekeeping Operations organized by the UN. For this reason, China’s African policy needs to be evaluated from a broad perspective. Beijing supports operations in Africa while it opposes a possible UN Peacekeeping Operation in the Syrian Crisis. At this stage, the support given to the operations in African crisis regions is remarkable in order to prove that China’s changing attitude may be specific to the region and its conditions. China’s strategic interests in Africa encourage Beijing to shape events on this continent. China’s active diplomacy in Africa is mostly explained by the “energy” factor. However, China plays an active role in crisis regions in Africa rather than the Middle East, where it provides 62% of the energy imports. One of the three Peacekeeping Operations carried out by the UN in the Middle East has not provided staff to the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) to date. China started to provide personnel support to The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon-UNIFIL in Lebanon, after 2006, and attended with a team of 6 experts to the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization-UNTSO in Jerusalem.
One of the best examples of the Chinese active involvement to the conflict resolution and support to the UNPKO has been seen during the Darfur Crisis. China, which saw the Darfur Crisis as the internal problem of the Sudanese government, did not give consent to the deployment of any UN Peace Protection Operations in the region. However, due to this attitude, it faced the danger of boycotting the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Consequently, the Chinese administration met with Sudanese President Ömer al-Bashir, and he adopted the decision to authorize the UN-African Union joint power for intervention in 2007.
One of the most important consequences of the Darfur Crisis is that the Beijing administration has demonstrated that it can adapt its foreign policy principles in the strategic regions as required by its national interests. Likewise, the Sudan crises, that take place ten years apart, are important in terms of demonstrating that the Beijing administration is trying to strike a balance between national interests and sanctions directed to it by the international community.
In addition, the fact that it contributed to the solution of the crisis, and participated in UN Peacekeeping Operations shows that China’s only strategic concern is not energy. As a matter of fact, China thinks that an instability that will spread from Darfur to neighbouring countries will endanger the agreements it has made with Sudan’s neighbouring countries, Ethiopia, Libya, Chad and the Central African Republic.
A detailed and multidimensional analysis of Sino-African relations reveals that as China’s investment and trade ties expand in remote regions, Beijing becomes more sensitive to instability in these regions, and when instability emerges from a regional scale, it can compromise the principle of not interfering with its internal affairs. As Beijing’s global interests become widespread, security concerns increase simultaneously, and the crisis in which national interests are threatened has a more interventionist attitude.
