The year 2009 was one of broken promises. China declared repeatedly that its relations with Africa would not be affected by the global financial crisi...
Debate within China has been raging for some time over the solution to the problem of slumping exports. One of the more...
India’s push for more trade and access to African mineral resources in 2010 will be made with one eye focused on Beijing...
The Google ultimatum
On 12 January, Google announced it would no longer censor search-engine results in China. This followed China-based cyber-attacks, apparently with the goal of cracking dissidents’ email accounts. Google’s move practically guarantees that its China office will close up shop. The company is sacrificing its 20% share of the world’s largest market, it appears, on principle.
Google’s actions contrast sharply with the deference shown by most multinationals. A day before, Rio Tinto issued a tepid response as industrial espionage charges against four executives were taken up by Chinese prosecutors.
China’s presence in Africa was supposed to provide the continent with leverage against both East and West. There are now signs of Google-like backbone. The Tanzanian government is looking for new investors to buy a stake in Air Tanzania after talks with China Sonangol led nowhere. Gabonese politicians are pushing for the renegotiation of the Bélinga deal and may restart talks with the initial Brazilian bidders. As commodity prices rebound even further in 2010, more such opportunities will arise for governments with a taste for hard-nosed negotiation. They have, unlike Google, the home-field advantage.
When Premier Yukio Hatoyama and the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) came to power in September 2009 promising to focus on domestic issues and budget cutting, African countries feared that overseas development assistance would be among the first targets. Hatoyama’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly on 24 September sought to assuage such fears, saying that ‘the new Japan will not turn its back on such challenges.’
Africa is almost off Taiwan’s diplomatic radar. In contrast to the attention lavished by Chinese leaders on countries across the continent, Taiwan’s relations with its four African allies remain low key, more so since June 2008 when President Ma Ying-jeou promised a ‘truce’ with China in the competition for diplomatic recognition (AAC Vol 1 No 11).
The Google ultimatum
On 12 January, Google announced it would no longer censor search-engine results in China. This followed China-based cyber-attacks, apparently with the goal of cracking dissident...
As one of the less developed Asian countries, Cambodia’s diplomats do not travel as much or have budgets as large as their Indian and South Korean counterparts. Nonetheless, the Phnom Penh government is focused on increasing trade with Africa in agriculture, pharmaceuticals and textiles.
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