Understanding the Chinese Political Culture

Most Kenyans and generally, most people around the world wrongly assume that the Chinese political system is a “one party” system that is undemocratic and non-representative. Very few people are aware of the fact that there exists other political parties that share power with the ruling Communist party of China and that elections are held periodically to elect representatives to the various organs of government through which people exercise state power.

China’s political system varies slightly from the western style democratic political systems. Its basic structure consists of the people’s congress system, the multi-party cooperation and political consultation system and the regional autonomy system under the unified leadership of the Communist Party of China.

The Chinese people exercise state power through the people’s Congress system. It consists of the National people’s congress (NPC) and the local people’s congress. Therefore, the people’s congress system is basically China’s fundamental political system.

The People’s Congress system is featured by adherence to the principle of democratic centralism where the people enjoy democratic rights, while state power is exercised in a centralized and unified manner. Deputies to the people’s congress at all levels are elected. They represent people from all ethnic groups, regions, and social strata.

When the congress meets, elected representatives air their views fully and raise inquiries in the interest of the people they represent and the government at all levels and its affiliated departments are duty-bound to respond and address their concerns and queries.

The country operates under a multi-party cooperation and political consultation system that the state uses to adopt important measures bearing on the national good and people’s well being. The Communist party of China (CPC), as the party in power, consults with representatives of all political parties, as well as those without party affiliations.

Multiparty cooperation and political consultation take two principal forms; one is the Chinese people’s political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Consultative meetings and forums with the participation of people from non-Communist parties and people without party affiliations, at the invitation of the ruling party, Communist party of China.

The CPPCC National committee is elected for a five year term and the members are responsible for auditing the National People’s Congress (NPC), democratic supervision and participation in deliberations and administration of state affairs.

Every year, the leaders of the highest organ of the governing Communist Party of China, the central committee, convene consultative meetings with leaders of the non-communist parties and people’s elected representatives of the people to forums that focus on major state policies.

The country also operates under a regional ethnic autonomy system where minorities live in compact communities with organs of self-government well established under the unified leadership of the state. The constitution and the law on regional ethnic autonomy, adapted in 1984 at the second session of the six National People’s Congress, is the basic law that guarantees the implementation of regional ethnic autonomy system.

The same law guarantees the basic political rights and interest of the citizens, including the right to vote and stand for election; freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association and of demonstration; freedom of religious belief and the right to criticize and make suggestions regarding any state organ or functionary and exercise supervision over matters of the state.

The central government actively aids the ethnic autonomous areas with funds and other materials to facilitate the development of local economies. As masters of their own areas, minority people exercise autonomous power and administer their own internal affairs.  The heads or chairpersons of the autonomous regions and their subordinates are required to be citizens of the community and region exercising autonomy.

Whereas the Chinese democratic political system varies slightly with the western democratic system, it is the system that the Chinese people and their leaders deem fit for their local conditions. After experimenting with the western style democratic system after the revolution of 1911, and later replacing it with the Kuomintang’s one-party dictatorship, the Chinese people opted for a hybrid democratic and cooperative system after both experiments failed. It is the inevitable choice in respect to China’s historical development that seems fit for China’s local conditions.

The Chinese people went through suppression and persecutions, class rivalry and alliances, unhealthy and disruptive political competitions and endless chaos. They wanted a system that promoted cohesion among various groups and interests; including political parties, ethnic groups, religious and social groups. This eventually led to forging of bonds of unity, national dialogue and consultations that culminated in a hybrid system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.

 

Africa Benefits from Cooperation with China

China’s engagement with Africa is arguably the most momentous development in the continent over the last decade. The two-way economic relations have improved exponentially. This can be attributed to China’s remarkable economic growth, which has increased demand for energy and commodities, thus necessitating trade and investment with Africa. However, despite the obvious grounds and motivation for this association, sophists continue to put China’s role and activities under the critical lens.

Pessimists view China’s engagement in Africa as a terrifying threat while optimists regard this as a golden opportunity to finally rise up and be counted among great nations and shed the unflattering tag of a dark continent. Despite differing views being projected by diverging interests, it is not difficult to weigh up and establish whether China's engagements in Africa are purely extractive or have a developmental impact to the continent.

Since China entered in Africa’s development agenda to establish a new type of strategic relationship with Africa, aspersions have been cast to portray China as a stealthy imperialist out to exploit Africa’s resources for its own benefit. Despite the scaremongering, there is enough proof that this relationship is mutually beneficial.

China’s role and motives in Africa are pure and above board. China needs African raw materials, oil and minerals to satisfy the Chinese population. It also needs a political ally in the international arena to safeguard its international interests. Above all, China needs a partner that it can work with to pursue their common development goals based on a win-win basis.

In the political arena, China has proven to be a reliable political ally to Africa. Since regaining its legitimate seat at the UN, It has stood with African countries by safeguarding their interests at the powerful Security Council. China has consistently called for larger representation of developing countries within the United Nations Security council, specifically African Nations, in line with the UN reforms. This has tipped the balance of international forces in favor of equality and respect among nations.

Economically, China has contributed significantly to the economic growth of African nations. A decade of engagement has helped Africa to develop and grow African economies by 20%, which more than 500 years of trade with the west could not. Trade between China and Africa soared from 10 billion USD in 2000 to 200 billion USD in 2012. James Oruko, a lecturer of Development Studies at Egerton University, attributed Africa's fast economic growth in recent years to Chinese demand for commodities from Africa.

China’s accumulative investment in Africa reached USD 20 billion by the end of 2012. In his first foreign trip as President, Xi Jinping came visiting Africa and reconfirmed China’s commitment to provide 20 billion USD in financing. Most of these funds go to infrastructure projects and people’s livelihoods, which are the firm foundations for Africa’s   industrialization and economic development.

Kenyan Finance Minister Robinson Githae said infrastructure cooperation has not only helped bring Africa's goods to China, but also transferred China's technology to Africa and created more jobs for its people. "China continues to do its best to increase assistance to Africa, optimize the structure of assistance, and focus on assistance projects in education, agriculture, health, poverty reduction and other projects concerning people's lives as well as energy conservation and environmental protection."

The number of technicians, volunteers, agricultural experts who have come to support African workers stood at 350,000 by the end of 2012. And 18,700 medical doctors have voluntarily served in 48 African countries.

Furthermore, China is already increasing its investments in the manufacturing sector in Africa with an aim of promoting industrialization and production in Africa by Africans. Industrial zones are already underway and others planned in various African countries. These not only offer jobs, but also facilitate technology transfer and value addition of locally produced raw materials.

Out of the over 2,000 Chinese companies in Africa, 85 percent of their workforce is comprised of local employees and with continuous training in highly technical areas, the numbers keep rising. By the end of 2012, it is estimated that China had facilitated the training of over 40,000 African professionals in various sectors.

Dambisa Moyo, an International economist, explains that “With approximately 60 percent of Africa’s population under age 24, foreign investment and job creation are the only forces that can reduce poverty and stave off the sort of political upheaval that has swept the Arab world.”

China plays a crucial role in Africa’s development. It offers great opportunities for African governments to pursue development and economic growth for the betterment of their people. Despite its imperfections, its role in Africa is broadly welcomed across the continent as it prioritizes the provision of basic elements of development.

Kenya should emulate China’s success story in its nuclear electricity development

The Kenya Association of Manufacturers and other key stakeholders have endorsed the country’s ambitious project of developing nuclear electricity to enhance the country’s base load power supply. The Country aims to build a 1,000 MWe nuclear power plant at a projected cost of 3.5 billion USD using South Korean technology.

The government set the stage for exploring nuclear power as a less-expensive and reliable alternative to our thermal power stations. However, we are wasting a lot of time debating whether Kenya is ready to go nuclear or not. Just like in business, highly profitable ventures come with considerable amounts of risk and investments. Skeptics abound but if the government has a strategic and workable plan, it should go fourth and actualize it for the betterment of this country.

In September 2010, Energy Ministry Permanent Secretary Patrick Nyoike announced Kenya’s plans to invite bids for the Construction of a nuclear plant in the next few years so that the project is complete by the year 2022. This announcement elicited heated debates and expert opinion is divided sharply as to whether this is a good venture by the government.

The idea of nuclear power sends chills to many and the idea couldn’t have come at a worst time. The Fukushima incident in Japan still lingers in many people’s minds and is influencing their attitudes towards nuclear energy development.

Many of those opposed to this nuclear project have been quick to remind us of the three nuclear disasters; Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima. There are fears and rightly so, of the vast damages the radioactive waste can cause to humanity and the environment.

Nuclear industry is generally safe, however, there are unique challenges facing each country with nuclear power plants. Kenya being at the start of her nuclear programme should therefore be informed by the fundamental challenges faced by experienced countries and success stories in nuclear energy development.

China offers the best success story that Kenya can study and learn from in its nuclear energy production. China was not wealthy and highly developed when it established its first nuclear plant.

China’s plan to build a nuclear power plant dates back to 1970. After reading a report that China’s industrial centre, the City of Shanghai, might face power shortages, Premier Zhou Enlai said that “in order to ease the power crisis in Shanghai as well as East China, we should develop nuclear power as a long term plan”. Shanghai was in deep crisis with power deficit hindering economic growth and development.

As in Kenya, the preparations for China’s first nuclear plant were fraught with controversy. Safety was of utmost concern, especially after the accident at the Mile Island in the United States in 1979. The technology to use, and the site for the nuclear plant raised a lot of Challenges.

Nonetheless, in 1981, China finally approved the construction of its first nuclear power plant at Qishan with a Chinese-made pressurized water reactor with a capacity of 300 megawatts.  After its completions and a careful safety evaluation by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it was passed as “safe and of good quality” allaying many fears.

It began commercial operation in 1994 making China the seventh country to build and operate a nuclear power plant. By the end of 2007, the plant had generated a total of 31 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, earning about 9.6 billion Yuan in sales revenues and 1.8 billion Yuan in taxes.

After 14 years of operation, nuclear power has proved to be a clean source of energy for China. After tracking the area around the power plant for more than ten years, the provincial environmental authority has reported that the plant has caused no environmental changes.

Based on the success of the fist Qinshan power reactor, China started to build more reactors. Two domestically produced pressurized water reactors, each with a capacity of 650 megawatts, were placed in commercial operation in 2002 and 2004. As a clean energy, the Qinshan nuclear complex has enabled the region to cut pollution significantly and accelerated development in recent years making China the world’s fastest growing economy.

Just like in China in the late 1970s, the urgent need for power with a huge energy deficit of 3,000 megawatts experienced in the country makes nuclear energy an option that Kenya cannot ignore.The permanent secretary in the Ministry of energy reiterated that the government is determined to bridge this deficit through hydro-power; oil based thermal, geothermal, co-generation and wind energy generation.

Kenya produces around 1,400 megawatts of electricity and more than half of that comes from hydroelectric plants. But massive deforestation and other factors have led to decreasing rainfalls and the drying up of rivers and lakes, making hydroelectric power less of an option. If Kenya’s first nuclear plant is successful, it is expected to provide 90% of Kenya’s electricity needs making Kenya the world’s biggest consumer of nuclear energy.

For Kenya to industrialize under the Vision 2030 blueprint, it must remain steadfast and emulate China and implement its development plan without fear. No country worldwide has ever industrialized on wind, solar and other renewable forms of energy. The reason is quite simply that industry requires an assured base load power supply to function and grow.

Chinese Companies have a positive Influence on Kenya’s Economy

Chinese companies and businesses have become more visible in Kenya and are making an even greater impact on the country’s economy than most of us can comprehend. China’s investment in trade with the country is steadily rising and Chinese goods are flooding the Kenyan market, as they are doing in the rest of the world.

The enormous volume of the two-way trade between China and Kenya has inevitably caused some problems. Local traders are facing stiff competition from Chinese investors who they accuse of selling their goods at cheaper prices and driving them out of business. However, we need to interrogate how the Chinese investors and traders thrive above us and are able to sell cheaply and still make profits. Nonetheless, these challenges cannot outweigh the positive impact that Chinese companies and businesses have had in the country.

There seems to be a constant attempt to portray China’s expansion in Kenya and the rest of Africa as a threat to our economy and a case of economic domination. There is also the notion that Chinese investment is predominantly in natural resources. However, the truth is that this is a win-win situation where each party gets the best of what it bargained for.

What creates fear for Chinese companies and businesses is that they have the numbers, technology and innovations. But these are the exact attributes that our country needs for our economic take off. Investors should create jobs and probably add value by bringing in the kind of skills that we still don’t have in our country. Therefore, Kenyans should fairly compete with their Chinese counterparts and learn from them and together drive the Kenyan economy to greater heights.

As China’s relationship with Kenya shifts from being essentially government to government cooperation to business to business cooperation, enormous potential has been seen in the manufacturing industry, retail in Chinese products and ICT sectors. Chinese companies are increasing their investment in other sectors, such as food processing, the service industry and telecommunications and ICT.

More and more Chinese companies and businesses are looking at Kenya as a new destination for investment, trade harbor and manufacturing base. Kenya is the gateway to the region and an ideal regional base for Chinese investors to expand their business in the region and the rest of Africa. Many Chinese companies and businesses have set up their headquarters in Nairobi with an aim of expanding into the region. They have created job opportunities to Kenyans, increased the levels of local production and reduced the cost of machinery, electronics and automobiles in the region. Kenyans can now buy phones, laptops other home appliances from China due to affordability. Previously, these modern gadgets were such a luxury and too expensive for many Kenyans.

The flocking of Chinese investors and businesses in Kenya has played a big role in promoting Kenya’s economic development. China-Kenya cooperation continues to expand, bringing more benefits to both sides. The bilateral trade volume between China and Kenya hit a record 2.841 billion USD in 2012; a 16.7% increase compared to 2011. Our trade volume has continued to increase at an annual rate of 30 percent since 2010.

China’s accumulative investment to Kenya amounted to USD 280 million by the end of 2012. Its increased investment has seen it become the second-largest source of foreign direct investment in Kenya last year. Compared to assistance, investment in business is a more constructive way to achieve common development on a much larger scale. This is achieved by bringing in technology, skills, management conceptions and employment opportunities to Kenyans. 

China’s investment to Kenya mainly covered real estate development, vehicle assembly, household electrical appliances, light industry, building materials, resource survey and exploration, food and beverages, tourism among other sectors.

Chinese companies have played a major role in improving the local conditions for economic growth and self development capacity by building transport, communication and energy infrastructure which are catalysts to the fast growth of our economy. They have completed the construction of Moi International Sports Centre, JKIA-Uhuru Highway-Gigiri (Unep) Roads, Gambogi-Serem Road, and a number of rural primary schools. Other projects include the new Unit 4 Passenger Terminal at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, and Berth No.19 at the port of Mombasa. All these projects are aimed improving the Kenyan economy.

Why Sino -Africa Cooperation is not a lopsided tokenism festival

The new Chinese president’s visit to Africa was not only significant but symbolic. It was his first foreign trip as president and he chose to come to Africa. Although many view this visit as a good gesture and a demonstration of Africa’s importance to the world’s second biggest economy, skeptics are raising questions as to what intentions China has in Africa.

China’s association with Africa is longstanding. It started long before the colonialists came to Africa. It improved slightly during Africa’s liberation struggle in which China played a supporting role. However, when China eventually entered into the development arena proper, to establish a new type of strategic relationship with Africa, many viewed it with a lot of suspicion. Understandably, Africa had misgivings considering the after affects of colonialism. The continent was not ready to open up to another foreign nation whose agenda in Africa it could not tell. 

Nevertheless, China offered Africa friendly assistance with no political strings attached, initiated huge infrastructure projects with efficiency and cost effective ways and established a cooperative mechanism where African leaders and Chinese leaders could dialogue and pursue their common interests. A results oriented culture of development cooperation was nurtured and the country gradually gained the trust of the African people and established a blossoming development momentum in Africa.

China made a strategic choice to partner with Africa to achieve both Africa’s development and its own development. From the onset, the Asian giant made it clear that it needs Africa to develop and averred that its development is hinged on Africa’s development. The establishment of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation, which meets at the summit level every three years, has helped to coordinate the rapidly expanding engagement between China and Africa. 

Since its inception in 2000, China has earnestly implemented all its cooperation commitments made at the various FOCAC ministerial and Beijing Summit. The benefits for Africa include debt cancellation, tariff exemption, provision of concessional loans and the scheme of special loans designed to help small and medium sized African enterprises. These achievements, which have been well received by the African states, are practical and evident for everyone to see. China has focused on concrete programmes such as infrastructure, livelihood projects, education, healthcare etc, from which the African people can see and feel, and can benefit directly.

China is of course looking out for its own interests but so long as these interests are compatible with African interest and mutually beneficial, then Africa has no reason to shy away.  Former Zambian President Rupiah Banda well put it when he said, "The Chinese have selfish interests, naturally," He said. "We are prepared to do this with anybody else. It is not that this is reserved for China. It is that they are the only ones who seem to see it the way that we see it." He added that “China understands Africa better than most of the world and has proved it’s a trusted ally.”

China is now Africa’s largest trading partner and one of the world's leading investors in Africa. Annual trade between China and Africa reached about $200 in 2012 and Chinese imports from Africa have soared 20-fold in a decade.  However, Pang Zhongying, an Africa specialist at Renmin University in Beijing warns that China has to demonstrate that it is not repeating the old practices of the European powers. 

Naturally, increased engagement comes with its own challenges. Some African officials have voiced fears that China’s dominance as an exporter of cheap garments, appliances and other goods, and its appetite for unprocessed raw materials, have skewed economic ties and undermined African hopes to advance into industrial prosperity. 

This has been acknowledged by China’s new president and in his tour of Africa last week, he sought to assure African countries that his government would heed complaints that competitive Chinese companies were suffocating African efforts to nurture industry and jobs, and he promised aid, scholarships and technology transfers in an effort to counter those fears. He added that “China has and will continue to work alongside African countries to take practical measures to appropriately solve problems in trade and economic cooperation so that African countries gain more from that cooperation.”

Despite the balance of trade titling towards the Chinese side, Africa has made great strides by reaping huge benefits particularly when it comes to moving up the manufacturing value chain, increasing productivity, infrastructure development and fostering private enterprise. China is helping its African partners to industrialize both by building infrastructure such as roads, telecommunications, and power stations that cut the cost of doing business, and by investing in manufacturing. Its investments are bringing in technology, skills, management conceptions and employment opportunities.