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In a blog I posted about a month ago, which I titled: Land Grab from the Poor to the Poor, I wrote about China's use of land in African countries to grow and provide food for its own population. I mention this in a later post, and describe it as a new form of colonization.
This "new form of colonization" is harsher, cruder and ultimately much more damaging than the earlier, Europeans' presence. The European colonizers came to Africa looking for land and resources, there is no doubt about that. But, they also came to provide the natives of these lands with a better way to live, and also on a missionary obligation to introduce, and convert, them to Christianity. What do these 21st century Chinese colonizers have to offer? Nothing, as my title suggests. It is pure and simple land and resources acquisition, at the expense and detriment of the countries they have entered.
This thought was further reinforced by a CBC Radio commentary I was listening to the other day. A Guelph University Geography professor, Barry Smit, was recently on the radio's The Current program. The frightening message from his interview was that countries like China, who have uncontrolled population growth coupled with declining food and agricultural resources, need to find other means to feed their populations. One thing the Chinese fear is the rise of food riots, which Smit says is the result of dissatisfied populations. These riots, as history indicates, could eventually turn into full blown revolutions.
Leasing land for one hundred years seems to do the trick. But, as I wrote in Revolt on the Nile:
Despite China's swaggers about its growing economy, and its presence in the world market, there is no indication that the country has removed its communists yolk. Much of the government still works in a bureaucratic and secretive way, typical of autocratic regimes. And why all those Chinese who are incessantly immigrating to the West? At least here in Canada, the Chinese immigration influx continues unabated despite all those wonderful things that are meant to be happening in their country.One final thought. The European major powers at the peak of the colonization period (England, France and Spain) didn't attempt to colonize Ethiopia. This is why I think the thesis that they came for land and resources and to convey a better way of life - i.e. Christianity - is sound. Italy, in the late 19th century, was a conglomeration of rivaling cities, and her attempt to take over an established and Christian nation ended in defeat. The second time Italy attempted to claim Ethiopia was around WWII, and it is documented that Italy used unfair war practices as part of an attempt to avoid a second embarrassing defeat.
But what was interesting about the Ethiopian occupation by Italy in the 20th century (because it really simply was an occupation) was that the English sent armies and armaments to help the Ethiopians defeat and remove the fascist Italian presence. Christian solidarity trumped a European one, especially if that European country was fascist. I equate this with the American liberation of Europe from the foreign and evil Nazis.
So, who will remove yet another nefarious presence in the world now, because it is surely here at our doorsteps? Or, I should say, it has already entered our lands. I am taking about Islam, although this is a second attempt on the Muslims' part. Is our world capable of taking them on again? Can we even think in terms of Good and Evil anymore? Such is the state of our post-modern, global world.