Is China really our BFF?

Africa has a new BFF. China. Across the continent everyone seems to be loving them. They have quickly become our superbro in the world of economics. A destination for our exports. And the supplier of all our needs from white tees to blue jeans to cheap guns. The new meme on the street seems to be that China is some sort of antidote against American and Western influence. That where America and Europe have failed, China will now succeed. Even Western NGOs have come under fire. Dambisa Moyo, the celebrated African economist wrote in her new book Dead Aid that all these do-gooders who appeared for so many years to be trying to help Africa, have actually hurt Africa. In her eyes they are a massive white elephant and should be replaced by trade with China. Her words make sense, trade is far better than aid, it doesn’t take a boffin to realise that. But is China really the right partner? Is China really the friend we’re looking for?

It was China’s bday this week. I saw it on the TV. There were all these people marching in rows, all perfectly in time, carrying big pictures of Hu Jintao and other past chairmen. There were big flags, big guns, nuclear missiles and girl soldiers. I especially like the train that was being carried by people, rather than the other way round. But then I saw this one photo of a man and a tank and it kinda reminded me of another photo of a man and a tank. I guess you know which one I’m talking about. Yup, that one.

People say that China has changed. That the people who gunned down hundreds of students in Tiananmen Square no longer rule the country. That is sort of true. Well, actually not really. Because I’m pretty sure that the same party is still ruling China today as back then. That’s the reason they had that big party. To show the world, hey, we’re still boss of this joint. They may have changed a few faces but it is still the same scene. If you’re looking for an analogy imagine if the National Party had stayed in power in South Africa, changed a few people in their line-up, and then claimed things were different. You’d be like: No they’re not! You’re still the same bloody party! Well, that’s sort of the gig in China. Yes, they’ve opened up the marketplace for free trade and all that. But this is still the same regime. They’ve just got nicer clothes now and bigger cars.

For a lot of people that’s exactly what they want from BFF. A snazzy dresser with a pimped up ride. Someone who will take them to that fancy club or treat them to that posh dinner in that little place where the somebodies eat. The problem is friends like that come with a price. They make us do things we don’t want to do. Like turning our backs on our old friends. People like the Dalai Lama. When he wanted to come visit us we were like: Umm, sorry, our new BFF don’t like you. So that totally makes you our BFFN. Our best friend for NEVA!

Ok, we’re not really that superficial. This week a whole bunch of us did get quite worked up over Nestle buying milk from Mugabe. We all joined Facebook groups and wrote little twitters declaring our indignation. But the problem is no one really gave two hoots when Zimbabwe handed over 1 000 square kilometres of seized farmland to China. No one seemed to mind when China hooked up Uncle Bob with a five-million-dollar pad in Hong Kong. Or that Grace blows all that milk-money on the best honey that Honkers has to offer. You don’t hear of people giving up on Chinese goods because of China’s relationship with the Mugabes. In fact, it is the complete opposite. When it comes to the country that gave us Tiananmen Square, the Tibet crisis of 2008, the banning of Falun Gong, the imprisonment and torture of its practitioners, massive press restrictions and information blackouts, we don’t do a thing. And you most certainly don’t see any Facebook groups about it. Which is probably a good thing. Because our new BFF don’t like the Facebook. In fact they’ve banned it. Along with Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia and whole bunch of other social media websites.

I remember the first time I discovered this fact. I was in Shanghai for work just before the Olympic games. We were staying at this amazing hotel overlooking the Bund. My room was on the 23^rd floor with a beautiful view across the city. And I’ll admit that China has put her cash to good use. They have created a space-age mecca of capitalism that can rival any city in world. If they were to remake Bladerunner, they would set it in Shanghai. It is New York for a new millennium. But hold on, I’m getting sidetracked by the glitz. It’s easy to do that with China, to be enamoured by their piles of money. Anyway, back to my point. That night I needed to do some work, I needed to find photographic and film references for this project we were working on. I tried flickr, no luck, you could get on the site but the pictures would not load. I tried Wikipedia, nothing. I tried YouTube, nothing. All my usual sources of information were gone. Courtesy of the Chinese internet police. Who apparently were only doing it to protect the Chinese people from bad influences like information and stuff. The last time I saw censorship of this nature it was as a kid. During the days of PW Botha. He called it the state of emergency. Well, the banning of social media is the state of emergency gone 2.0. It is the behaviour of a government who are worried about their own legitimacy. A government that is afraid of its own people. It’s the stuff that bad people do, not your new BFF.

Now did I go downstairs and complain? Did I go to my meeting and say I’m out! I won’t do this. I won’t sit here and gush on about how this city is wonderful and all while people’s basic rights of assembly and free speech are not being respected. No, I didn’t. China is not the sort of place you just walk into a meeting and say: So you banned Facebook. What’s up with that shit? No, you grin and smile and pretend everything is normal. But in your mind you know that’s not how you would behave if you were hanging with your real BFF.