Beyond China's Human Rights Exceptionalism in Africa: Leveraging Science, Technology and Engineering for Long-Term Growth

Abstract

This brief response to Timothy Webster’s article, “China’s Human Rights Footprint in Africa,” also forthcoming in 51 Columbia Journal of Transnational Law (2013) critically appraises China’s disavowal of human rights, the rule of law and democracy in its African relations. China has argued its African relations are based on the principles of political equality and reciprocity, mutual trust and benefit, common prosperity, sincerity and friendship. I critically evaluate this effort to redraw the boundaries between political and economic interventionism. In so doing, I make two major claims.

First, viewing China’s involvement in Africa as purely or primarily economic, (and therefore non-interventionist and non-imperial), is inaccurate. China’s economic involvement in Africa is not apolitical, or any different than that of Western countries which condition certain forms of economic support to human rights or goals such as free and fair elections, and free market reforms. Economic interventionism is no less objectionable than human rights interventionism. It is inaccurate to think of the private realm of economics as apolitical or neutral – it is precisely such views of the economic sphere that have been invoked to put brakes on the goals of social justice in the economy and presumptions such as that the non-intervention norm does not extend into the economic realm

Second, I argue that to address Africa’s development and human rights challenges, African countries must capitalize on the trade and investment opportunities China and other countries provide by taking concerted measures to transform their dependency on primary products by developing a productive base upon which competitive industries could emerge to promote the kind of growth that would inure positively for human rights. China can best help human rights in the long term by ensuring its investments in Africa are poverty reducing and productivity increasing. This is exactly what China did at at home with strategies such as joint-ventures with foreign firms that transferred technology and skills.

In July 2012 at the last China-Africa forum, Chinese leaders promised that a new chapter in which China would seek to help Africa improve its productive capacity by “scaling up personnel training and technology transfer” was beginning. This commitment will be crucial to assuring that China’s contact with Africa goes towards promoting human rights in the long-term. African governments must work closely with the Chinese governments as well as Chinese firms to make this happen. China’s Africa human rights policy must take into account that the same rights China has invoked to defend itself in the global trading system should apply equally in its relations with African countries. Under China’s policy of mutual benefit, African countries can and should be entitled like China has to make the claim they are entitled to freely dispose its natural resources as a matter of international human rights law.

Keywords: China, Africa, Human Rights, Technology and Skills Transfer, Economic and Political Boundaries