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China and the High Stakes Showdown in the DR Congo

by Eric Olander
File image of Democratic Republic of Congo President Félix Tshisekedi Tshilombo. Ludovic MARIN / AFP

Chinese mining bosses for years played the game as everyone else in the DR Congo. Money pretty much solved every problem. Need a permit? Pay some money. Get in trouble with the law? Pay some money. Under-counting cobalt reserves? Pay some money.

That’s the way things have been done in the DRC and the Chinese are by no means different from the Israelis, Belgians, Swiss, Australians, and Americans who’ve used the same corrupt practices to promote their agendas in this largely lawless country.

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