The world's second superpower is pouring billions of dollars into Africa, running oil and mining firms all over the continent. China is constructing everything from roads and bridges to stadiums and important government buildings. The headquarters of the African Union, perhaps the most important political building in Africa, was built entirely with Chinese money, to the tune of $200 million.
作为世界第二超级大国,中国正把海一样的银子投往非洲,经营石油、矿业公司。从道路、桥梁到体育场和重要的政府大楼,中国什么都建。非盟总部也许是非洲最为重要的建筑,就完全由中国斥资建造,共花费2万亿美元。
And while China is aggressively investing in Africa, the U.S. appears to be sitting on the sidelines. China has passed the U.S. to become Africa's biggest trading partner.? Xi Jinping became China's new leader just two weeks ago and right now Xi is in Africa as one part of his first trip abroad as president. Africa is the world's fastest growing market and has the world's richest mineral reserves, so obviously there's money to be made. But do the?Chinese want more?
当中国正凶猛的向非洲投资时,美国似乎坐起了冷板凳。中国已经超越美国成为非洲最大的贸易伙伴。两周前,习近平成为中国新一任国家主席,现在他正在非洲进行国事访问,这也是他任国家主席后的首次国事访问。非洲是世界上最大的正在成长中的市场,拥有世界上最富有的矿产储备,所以显而易见这就意味着赚钱。但是中国想要的仅仅是钱吗?
Some argue that this is a new form of colonialism – a repeat of Africa's hated past. Nigeria's central bank governor recently said, “China takes our primary goods and sells us manufactured ones. This was also the essence of colonialism. Africa is now willingly opening itself up to a new form of imperialism." Many Africans see a thin line between capitalism and colonialism.
一些人认为中国的行为是另一种形式的殖民主义——是对非洲不堪过去的一种重复。尼日利亚中央银行的行长最近表示:“中国买走我们的初级产品,卖给我们加工成品,这就是殖民主义的本质。非洲现在愿意对新帝国主义敞开大门。很多非洲人认为资本主义和殖民主义的区别微乎其微。”
Ian Bremmer is the president of the Eurasia Group and he told CNN’s Ali Vleshi that both Africans and Chinese are getting the benefit of this trade and investment “Clearly the Chinese are not picky where they invest. They typically go places that the West doesn't have as much.” As a consequence, Bremmer says the Chinese tends to invest in less developed places that are less democratic and more authoritarian. In those regions, the African governments may be seeing a lot of cash, but their people are seeing a lot less.
Ian Bremmer,是欧亚集团的主席,他告诉CNN记者非洲和中国都能从彼此的贸易和投资中获益。“很显然,中国人对其投资的领域不是很挑剔。他们喜欢去那些西方国家不去的地方投资。”因此,Bremmer表示,中国更愿意在不太发达的地方投资,喜欢选择那些不是很民主和比较独裁的地方进行投资。在这些区域,非洲政府能看到很多收益,但是普通百姓能得到的就会比较少。
“The Chinese clearly are getting what they want in the deal either way,” Bremmer said. Even in more democratic countries, the people may be uneasy with the Chinese presence. Bremmer recounted a Nigerian official who told him that the Chinese were by far the most effective trade partner that the Nigerians had – much more so than the United States because the Chinese write checks, plus they are willing to come in and build infrastructure.
“中国人显然从对非洲的生意中得到了自己想要的。”Bremmer说道。在更为民主的国家里,人们就会比较担心中国人。Bremmer回忆到,一个尼日利亚官员曾经告诉他中国目前为止是尼日利亚遇到的最给力的贸易伙伴,比美国强太多,因为中国人做了生意给钱,而且中国人愿意来到非洲大陆,建设基础设施。
And the African governments may prefer this, because unlike the U.S. investment, China doesn’t come with strings attached. “In the last couple days, Xi Jinping has been down in Africa and he made it very clear that when China comes to Africa, there will not be any political strings. And he's clearly implying that while the United States wants you to be democratic, they want you to pay attention to human rights. So, my God, the Chinese won't do that.” But Bremmer said there actually are a different set of strings attached.
非洲政府也更喜欢中国政府这样做,因为中国不像美国,投资时不会附带很多条件。“在过去几天里,习近平主席来到非洲,很明确的表示如果中国人来到非洲,不会附带任何政治条件。他很清楚的在暗示,尽管美国人想要你民主,但是他们更想要你关注人权。所以,上帝,中国人可不会那么做。”但是Bremmer表示中国人也会附带一些不同的条件。
“The Chinese quid pro quo typically involves lots of Chinese content, lots of Chinese labor that they're sending over to these countries to work, which hurts local unemployment issues. And of course, the availability of commodities, including food, to be exported to China. There's sometimes a Faustian bargain in these countries.” It appears to be coming without geopolitical or other strategic interest, other than economic gain for China.
“中国人的交换条件包括很多中国的内容,他们派过来很多劳动力到非洲大陆工作,这一定程度上影响了当地失业问题的解决。当然,中国来到非洲也促进了非洲货物,包括食物出口到中国去。有时候,这当中有一些浮士德式的砍价。”除了经济利益之外,中国不会附带地理政治或者国家策略方面的附加条件。
“I think it is ultimately good for Africans because Africa is getting governed better," Bremmer said. "Fifty percent of Africa's 1.1 billion people now live in cities. Their women are getting educated. As that happens, you start to see better demographics. They're more sustainable. There's less poverty, of course, and the government improves. And when the government improves, the investment starts looking less colonial.” Bremmer said if one day China's investments places like Nigeria come full circle and start looking more colonial, “that government has no one but themselves to blame.”
“我认为最终这对于非洲来说是很好的,因为非洲被治理得更好了。”Bremmer表示,“非洲有10亿人,其中一半现在居住在城市,女人们开始接受教育。人口素质在不断提高。社会更稳定,贫穷在减少,政府执政能力提高,所以这时候,投资看起来也没那么殖民主义了。”Bremmer说道,“如果有一天中国对尼日利亚那样的国家的投资又回到原地,变得更加殖民化,那么只能怪尼日利亚的政府无能。”