Africa -China Review Africa -China Cooperation and Transformation
By Gerald Mbanda
A number of publications in US reveal that China’s ambition to open a naval base in Equatorial Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean, is a major concern of the US administration as China would be able to “moor and resupply warships within direct striking distance of the American east coast. According to American intelligence assessments, the development has triggered alarm in Washington.
In UK, the new head of Britain’s MI6 spy agency Richard Moore, said in his first public speech and live interview that China was the “single greatest priority” for U.K. Moore expressed the need for his intelligence agency to work with private technology companies to be able to compete with the rapid advances of other countries.
Speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, London, Richard Moore said that, “Britain’s intelligence agencies must open up to co-operation with the global tech sector if they are to counter the rising cyber threats from hostile states, criminals and terrorists, (November 30, 2021). “The tectonic plates are shifting as China’s power, and its willingness to assert it, grows,” added the UK spy agency chief.
Richard moore further stated that while it was important to work with China to tackle pressing global issues like climate change and trade, “it’s also the case that China is controlled by an authoritarian regime. They don’t share our values and often their interests clash with ours.”
Western countries have always believed that their values are superior to those of other countries. There is no problem with such a way of thinking because even at individual level, everyone believes that his or her beliefs are better than those of others. The problem with the west is to assume that their values can forcefully be imposed on other civilizations. This is outright bully mentality.
The west has refused to come to terms with the reality of the changing world. There are no countries that were created to be superior and dominate others. All countries aspire and have the potential to develop and join the rank of the first world. China has rapidly and by its own merit, climbed the development ladder very fast which under the roof of heaven would be great news and of benefit for all humanity.
China’s breakthrough in scientific and technical capabilities especially artificial intelligence would be more beneficial to the world if shared for human progress, rather than looking at it as a threat to the west. The revelation by Richard Moore that China is rapidly expanding its technical capabilities, including in artificial intelligence and the U.K, “needs to be able to compete and defend itself in digital spaces,” depicts a technology war, rather than an attitude of cooperation. It appears that what makes the west happy, is for China to continue being inferior technologically, or assumption that technology advancement is only a preserve for the west.
China’s advancement in military capabilities by developing hard and software war materials, as well as opening naval bases outside China has raised more concerns from western countries, as if China has done something wrong that it is not allowed to do. Ironically, the same western countries raising fingers at China, have more military bases in other countries than China! The questions here, is, are there rules that China has to play with, different from the rules that concern western countries?
Following recent media reports that China tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic glide vehicle, Lieutenant General Chance Saltzman, the US Space Force Deputy Chief of Space Operations was quoted saying that, “the US is deeply concerned about the potential consequences of such hypersonic weapons.” The reports suggested that China Can Station, launch nuclear missiles from space without fear of being intercepted. It is believed that presently, the US lacks effective defence systems to effectively track and destroy hypersonic weapons, and that China is way ahead of US in hypersonic weaponry.
It is intriguing when the US complains that other countries are developing nuclear weapons yet it is the 2nd country globally with most nuclear weapons after Russia which has 6, 257 war heads. “On October 5, 2021, the U.S. State department issued a declassification announcement indicating that the total number of U.S. “active” and “inactive” warheads is 3,750 as of September 2020. The stockpile figures do not include retired warheads and those awaiting dismantlement. FAS estimates there are 1,750 retired warheads awaiting dismantlement, for a total of 5,550 warheads as of early 2021,” (Armscontrol.org). On the other hand, China commands only a mere 350 warheads.
The US is the only country in the world that has used nuclear weapons in armed conflict, when in 1945 it dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing between 129,000 and 226,000 people, mostly innocent civilians. The first opium war (1839–42) and the second in (1856–60) also known as the Anglo-Chinese conflict, were wars of aggression against China, intended to force China to accept trade in opium narcotics aimed at destroying lives of the Chinese people.
To the contrary, there is no evidence of China starting a war with other countries, in the same way the US and UK have done as evidenced by history. China has the right to develop weapons for self defence and global peace process such as participating in peace keeping operations and fighting terrorism around the world, like other nations with military capabilities do.
World peace and security can only be achieved through cooperation rather than confrontation, while peacefulcoexistence is possible with divergent values and political systems, without necessarily following the footsteps of the west. “There are more than one way to skin a cat.”
Gerald Mbanda is a Researcher and publisher on China and Africa.
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