For China, coups in Africa have a good side and a bad side. The bright side is that they highlight the limits of democracy “Western” based on elections by universal suffrage and allow, by extension, to criticize the role of the former colonial powers. The bad news is that they destabilize the countries concerned, make investments there more risky and, ultimately, harm its own economic interests. But, overall, during these times of crisis, “China is keeping a low profile, even when it could have the means to exert some influence”testifies a French diplomat present in one of the countries concerned.
According to him, “It is wrong to associate the role of the Chinese with that of the Russians in the West. In Africa, the former are betting on the stability of the continent, of which they have become the main financial backer [au niveau bilatéral] and the latter seek, on the contrary, to destabilize it for reasons that are both strategic and of short-term financial interest”he continues. “To the UN Security Council [Organisation des Nations unies]Russia has just vetoed a resolution extending sanctions against the junta in Mali, while China abstained »he remarks.
Coincidentally, the coup d’etat in Gabon took place at the very moment when China is organizing in Beijing for six days, from Monday August 28 to Saturday September 2, the 3e China-Africa Forum for Peace and Security. A meeting which, according to the Chinese, brings together “more than one hundred representatives of the African Union and nearly fifty African countries”.
Asymmetric economic relations
On Tuesday, Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu said that “the tradition of helping each other does not change” and even called for “strengthen cooperation” between China and Africa. According to the New China news agency, the minister ” notably “ had interviews with “defense officials” Senegal, Comoros, Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Ghana, Zambia, South Sudan, Gambia, Mauritania and Uganda.
If, unlike Russia, China does not send mercenaries to Africa and if it avoids being militarily involved in local conflicts, it has numerous cooperation agreements with most African countries to which it sells military and technological equipment. Main areas of intervention: peacekeeping, anti-terrorism, the fight against piracy, humanitarian aid and military training. So many areas now integrated into the “new silk roads”, the major international investment program launched in 2013 by Xi Jinping.
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