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
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