The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee is currently hearing testimony from U.S. generals about U.S.-led security in the Middle East and Africa. Not surprisingly, the hearings are portraying China’s African priorities as opposed in all respects to those of the United States. However, there may be more overlap than the generals would like to admit.
The head of the U.S. Africa Command, General Stephen Townsend, said: “Deadly terrorism has metastasized in Africa. Al Qaida’s Al-Shabab in East Africa, and Al Qaida groups in West Africa […] remain grave and growing threats that aspire to kill Americans both there and in our homeland.”
They’re not just killing Americans. This week, China’s ambassador to Kenya, Zhou Pingjian, met with Kenyan officials to discuss ongoing Al-Shabab attacks on Chinese worksites along the Lamu Port South Sudan to Ethiopia (LAPSSET) development corridor.
On 11 March, the movement attacked a Chinese road-building site near the Somali border, killing five people and detaining two Chinese nationals, who were released later. In January, construction equipment and eight heavy vehicles belonging to China Communications Construction Co. were set alight by Al-Shabab fighters in Lamu.
Two weeks before the truck attack in Kenya, high-level Chinese security officials met with their Nigerian counterparts to discuss escalating attacks against Chinese nationals in Nigeria. This followed the abduction of three Chinese, and the killing of two Nigerian workers installing a power transmission tower in Northern Nigeria. This week, Chinese diplomatic missions in Nigeria warned their citizens that victims of kidnapping are also in danger of forced organ harvesting.
We have picked up similar reports of violent crime against Chinese nationals all over the continent, from Angola, to Zimbabwe, to the Democratic Republic of Congo to South Africa.
The fact that Chinese officials at the level of Zhou Pingjian are holding meetings about the issue shows that security concerns reach all the way back to Beijing. But this official concern is multiplied many times on community WeChat pages abuzz with worry about anti-Chinese violence.
In Washington, General Townsend pointed out that U.S. military engagement is more effective when coupled with diplomatic and development outreach. I’d add that private sector investment is even more needed. But despite U.S. government enticements like the BUILD Act , many American companies are wary of moving into Africa. The perception that Africa is a uniquely dangerous place is partly to blame. Instead, many African countries depend on Chinese trade and investment.
Yet, Chinese mainstream views of Africa echo those of many Americans. The continent is frequently the least desirable destination for Chinese foreign workers. Perceptions of increasing attacks attacks against Chinese, both by militant and criminal groups could further erode the already small range of companies willing to work there.
This should be a wake-up call to African leaders: the combination of violent crime and terrorism plays into the world’s most basic stereotype, that Africa is a violent place full of violent people, and that only a fool will go there with a full wallet.
On the other hand, the Washington hearing also shows that getting the help to fight these threats could push these governments into exactly the great power competition they’d like to avoid…
