Japan is making a pivot towards
Africa and China doesn’t like it one bit. In fact, China is making no effort to
hide its disdain of Japan’s efforts to court Africa. Responding to a question
about the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD)
recently held in Nairobi, Kenya, a spokesperson for the Chinese government
accused Japan of pursuing “selfish” interests and of trying to “impose its will
on African countries”. Of course, historically speaking, there’s no love lost
between China and Japan. Some however say that China has scored an own goal by
attacking Japan since it’s guilty of all the things it accuses its Asian
neighbour of doing in Africa
China
is a pretty jealous lover, especially when it come to Africa. Just ask Japan.
The Asian economic giant, which has recently been giving Africa the eye, found
itself at the receiving end of a verbal dressing-down from a spokesperson for
the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The spokesperson tore into Japan for not having
the purest of intentions when it held the Tokyo International Conference on
African Development (TICAD) in Nairobi in late August.
According to
a transcript of
the press briefing posted on the Foreign Ministry’s website, the spokesperson
Hua Chunying said Japan only held the TICAD conference “to impose its wills on
African countries to gain selfish interests and drive a wedge between China and
African countries.”
She wasn’t
finished. Chunying, who serves as the Deputy Director of the Foreign Ministry
Information Department, also accused Japan of trying to deviate the talks
towards discussions on “the Security Council reform and maritime security
issues” and away from the “the theme of the summit” which “led to strong
dissatisfaction among African attendees.” Chunying is far from the only Chinese
government official to throw shade at the Japanese over the TICAD conference.
Chunying is far from the only Chinese government
official to throw shade at the Japanese over the TICAD conference.
Zhang Ming,
China’s Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, who attended the TICAD conference,
more or less (mostly more) accused Japan of making promises it can’t keep to
Africa.
“There is a
never shortage of conferences and promises for Africa, and yet action and
implementation have not always followed,” he said.
“We hope
Africa’s partners will honour their commitments with real actions and deliver
tangible fruits to the African people,” he added.
Enough to go around
It’s easy to
see why China is worried about Japan’s overtures. The latter came with a bag of
goodies to TICAD. Japan committed to pumping in US $30 billion to
African countries in support of infrastructural projects in partnership with
the African Development Bank. Granted, this is a pittance compared to the US $ 200
billion that the Africa and China averaged on trade in 2013
alone. The Japanese could, however, give the Chinese a run for their money if
they wanted to.
World Bank
President Jim Yong Kim, however, sees no reason for the antagonism.
Kim thinks
there’s enough of Africa to go around for both China and Japan in terms of
opportunities especially given that the continent needs about US $ 90
billion in infrastructure investment every year.
It’s easy to see why China is worried about Japan’s
overtures
“I don’t
think there is any shortage of opportunity for both China and Japan, so I think
it’s a healthy competition. I think both Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe and
President Xi Jinping understand that having influence in the world as a whole,
whether it be in Asia or in Africa, is important,” said Kim.
As the World
Bank President puts it, it is easy to see who the clear winner is in all this.
“And that’s
very, very welcome because it’s going to mean good things for Africa,” Kim told
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