Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 2, Issue 1, Fall 2016 | Page 91

Is China Playing a Contradictory Role in Africa? the PLA to pursue profits via arms sales. Accordingly, it currently exercises strong influence over defense-related enterprises and searches for its own arms export markets. The exposure of defense companies to more independent commercial management is driven by the need for China to compete with the major arms suppliers. Most of the profits earned remain with these companies while a portion goes to the Ministry of Finance. The result is that the PLA no longer receives profits from civilian enterprises and now relies to a large extent on arms sales. The need to increase profits from arms sales result in selling weapons that escape the scrutiny of the state. Consequently, the vigorous search for markets in Africa is the result of necessity by the PLA to regain its lost domestic commercial profits via external commercial arms relationships. The dissolution of China’s military business complex, it could be argued was a deliberate policy to ensure that the country becomes more competitive in arms sales relative to other major powers. What the policy did, is to privatize its arms industry and open it to domestic competition among Chinese firms. Many of China’s privately owned firms entered the African market and thereby acted as competitors to firms from other major countries. However, because of China’s non-conditional policy of arms sales, it was not long before Chinese weapons were implicated in atrocities in Sudan, especially Darfur, the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Liberia, and Zimbabwe, among others. In order to quell the growing negative image of itself in Africa because of its support of despotic regimes through arms sales, it expanded its peacekeeping and peacebuilding activities in the continent. Its involvement in increased peacekeeping was also a reaction to calls on it to be a more responsible partner in the international system. In other words, while China is searching for commercial opportunities in Africa, at the same time, it wants to preserve a good image in the world. It does not want to be seen as the enhancer of genocides, authoritarian regimes, or supporter of despots in the African continent. China attempts therefore to skillfully balance weapons sales with an expanding peacebuilding agenda in order to silence some of the criticism directed at it by the West. African nations can be categorized into two broad categories, those that are of geopolitical importance such as Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, and Ethiopia. These are sometimes referred to as anchor states. They could also be referred to as sub-regional hegemons. In Africa, these four states exercise considerable influence within their regions. They are characterized by a substantial power base relative to others within the same region. They often have a stronger and larger military, a larger population, and larger geographic size, critical raw materials, and a strategic location, relative to the many small African nations. They sometimes aspire to regional hegemony and could become directly involved in the foreign policy and economic goals of major powers. In sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, in particular generally possess many or all of the geo-strategic and geo-economic characteristics of subregional influentials. For instance, has the geo-economic and geo-strategic importance of Nigeria correlated strongly with Chinese arms transfers to that country? Nigeria as a sub-regional hegemon or anchor state in West Africa receives regular military assistance and arms transfer from China. The military ties between Nigeria and China are regularly cemented by reciprocal visits at the level of Defense Ministers. In June 85