7.8 Contesting global influence

Question 1

Why have existing superpowers been accused of having unfair relationships with developing countries?

Answer 1

Relationships can be built on:
Neo-colonialism: super powers pulling the economic and political strings, despite not directly ruling them
Unfair terms of trade
Brain drain of workers from developing countries
Wealthy local elites benefit from the relationship, but have no interest in changing it

Question 2

What are the contesting types of relationships it can be argued China has with Africa?

Answer 2

A developmental one or a neo-colonial one

Question 3

How much development and economic aid does China give to Africa each year?

Answer 3

US$2-3 billion annually

Question 4

How has China’s relationship with Africa created greater interdependence?

Answer 4

-China relies on African oil- from Angola, Nigeria and Sudan- as well as minerals, such as copper from Zambia
-Africa increasingly imports Chinese-manufactured goods and relies on Chinese investment in infrastructure like roads, rail and ports

Question 5

What are the arguments that China and Africa’s relationship is neo-colonial?

Answer 5

-Infrastructure investments ensure China can export raw materials cheaply
-Skilled and technical jobs are often filled by Chinese migrant workers
-Cheap Chinese imports have undercut local producers and forced them out of business
-Much of the FDI only brings temporary construction jobs
-Soft power allows China to exert their ideology
-‘debt trap diplomacy’ - China’s economy is struggling so strings attached are tightening

Question 6

What are the arguments that China and Africa’s relationship is developmental?

Answer 6

-China has heavily invested in roads, railways and ports to export raw material; infrastructure is used by Africans themselves
-Vital jobs are created
-Modern working practices and technology brought to Africa
-Chinese finance has funded has funded 17 major HEP projects since 2000 adding 6,780 MW of electricity to the continent by 2013
-Without this, Africa may have completely missed out on global economic growth

Question 7

By 2015, how much was China’s African trade worth?

Answer 7

US$300 billion - their biggest trading partner

Question 8

Neo-colonial: How many labourers have moved from China to Africa since 2005

Answer 8

over one million

Question 9

What shows the amount of FDI going into Africa isn’t as big as initially thought?

Answer 9

Only about 5% of FDI goes into Africa while 50% goes into Asia

Question 10

Developmental: What is an example of infrastructure investment into Africa?

Answer 10

The renewal of the Tazara railway, which links the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania with Zambia’s copper belt

Question 11

Neo-colonial: Why is investment into Africa from China starting to decline and how is this concerning?

Answer 11

Chinese demand for African exports have plummeted, leading to concerns about China reducing its investment as the usefulness of Africa reduces

Question 12

Developmental and colonial: Discuss the railway being built in Kenya

Answer 12

The Mombasa-Nairobi was funded by China at $3.8 billion. Chinese imports in Kenya grew to $5billion in 2016, compared to just $780 million from the US, showing a major shift of power in the continent.
China are able to use this to export natural resources cheaper and easier too.
Many have accused the projects of being slapdash and have Chinese flags on them as a form of soft power

Question 13

Neo-colonial: An example of a African country in debt

Answer 13

Zambia is in debt of $8.7 billion in debt

Question 14

Neo-colonial: How many African countries will not be able to repay their debts to China?

Answer 14

17

Question 15

Developmental: What facilities has China built in Africa?

Answer 15

schools
anti-malaria centres
agricultural technology demonstration centres

Question 16

Developmental: How many African personnel has China trained?

Answer 16

40,000

Question 17

Neo-colonial: What are some of the environmental concerns of Chinese investment and resource exploitation

Answer 17

-Chinese imports of tropical timber have been linked to widespread illegal deforestation in Mozambique
-Oil spills linked to Chinese-funded oil wells have been reported in Chad, Sudan and Angola
-The extraction of the metallic ore coltan in the DRC has led to widespread forest loss and river pollution, but is vital to Chinese mobile phones and computer manufactures

Question 18

What may suggest that the criticisms towards Africa are unfair?

Answer 18

The role of China in Africa only mirrors that of the US in Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore in the 60s and 70s

Question 19

What is happening to the world’s centre of gravity

Answer 19

Moving eastwards as Asia increases in global dominance as a region. By 2050, it’s likely to be between India and China - a shift of 9,300km since 1980

Question 20

By 2050, where will the most GDP come from?

Answer 20

By 2050, the 600 cities with the highest GDP will generate almost 65% of world economic growth
Of those cities, 440 will be in emerging countries- most grith wont be in the countries megacities but ‘middleweight’ cities e.g. Surat, 180 miles north of Mumbai.
One billion people will have enough income to be classified as ‘significant consumers of goods and services’

Question 21

By 2030, which countries will increasingly be claiming superpower status?

Answer 21

Indonesia, China, India and Japan are all likely to have economies greater than US$5 trillion
Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and China will all have populations of over 100 million people
By 2030, there could be a strong case for India and even Indonesia to become permeant seats on the UN security council

Question 22

What are the tensions between Taiwan and China and how were these created?

Answer 22

After the Chinese civil war, the communist government was established on the mainland, while the opposing government of the Republic of China retreated to Taiwan. Relations between the two government are tense and no peace treaties have ever been signed. Each government claims to be China’s legitimate government, and the communist government maintains territorial claims

Question 23

What tensions exist between Tibet and China?

Answer 23

The diaspora in Tibet want political separation from China due to religious differences. The communist government is atheist, whereas Tibet is Buddhist. The government are being accused of suppressing Tibetan culture and religion and Beijing refuses to acknowledge the Dalai Lama.
China has been increasing tensions by encouraging Chinese migrants to move to Tibet and building a high-speed rail link between Tibet and mainland China

Question 24

How is there tension between China and Japan?

Answer 24

Relations were worsened when US troops were stationed in Japan after WW2, during the Chinese civil war.
There have also been increased tensions since they’ve adopted a capitalist, westernized economy and had high levels of investment from the US

Question 25

How are there tensions between India and China?

Answer 25

Historical border dispute.
India is suspicious of China’s relationship with Pakistan and China is equally concerned about India’s military presence in the South China Sea
This was shown as China didn’t attend the G20 summit in India in 2023

Question 26

Other than China, who does India have tensions with and why?

Answer 26

Pakistan- contested border over the territory of Kashmir
Bangladesh- extraction of water from the River Ganges

Question 27

What is China’s ‘One belt, One road’ strategy?

Answer 27

The strategy has two components:
-one belt - countries extending from Russia and Mongola, through Central Europe and to Western Europe
-one road- extending influence into Southeast Asia and India, then to the Middle East and East Africa
For this, China plans to invest US$46 billion into Pakistan alone

Question 28

What political tensions are evident in the Middle East?

Answer 28

The state of Israel and the Gaza-Israel conflict: many wish to see Palestine as a separate state
This reflects the broad alliances between the US, Israel and the EU against Iran, Russia, China and Syria. The alliances range from military support to suspected supply of arms to Iran by China through illicit channels
Many areas are destabilised by terrorist/militant groups such as Al Qaeda, ISIS or the Taliban. Afghanistan has been unstable since the Soviet Union invasion of 1979 and has been viewed as suspicious for hiding Islamist militants after 9/11

Question 29

What economic issues are evident in the Middle East region?

Answer 29

The wider middle East is an essential supplier of oil from key states such as Libya, Saudi Arabia and UAE. The rise of ISIS has focused Western interests on defending the country’s oil reserved

Question 30

What cultural tensions are evident in the Middle East region?

Answer 30

Many religious and tribal divisions e.g. between Shia Iran and Sunni Iraq

Question 31

What has been the consequence of political tension in the Middle East?

Answer 31

A refugee crisis caused by IS in Syria and Iraq and the Syrian civil war has forced up to 2 million Syrians to flee placing a huge strain on neighboring Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey

Question 32

What are some of the environmental tensions in the Middle East?

Answer 32

Past conflicts have often resulted in economic damage to oil instillations, particularly in Kuwait and following the invasion of Allied forces in Iraq in 2003

Question 33

When has tensions in the Middle East led to violence and dangerous situations?

Answer 33

Turkey are fighting a low-key civil war against the kurds, who want their own state, but the Kurds are one of the key groups fighting ISIS.
- The EU and US were initially supportive of the Arab Spring uprising against President Assad in Syria that began in 2011, but by 2015 bombed Syria, acting on the same side as Assad
-Taliban continue to rule Afghanistan despite a war there between 2002 and 2014
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