Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
least plan for, possible future competition or even war with advanced
industrialized countries over uninterrupted access to energy resources.
China is seeking to secure energy supplies and other natural re-
sourcesfromotherregionsandcountriesaswell,suchasCanada.
Unlike most countries, which are content to have an embassy in
Ottawa and perhaps two or three consulates in Toronto, Montreal,
and Vancouver, the world's three largest national economies (the
United States, China, and Japan) are all smart enough to have diplo-
matic offices in Calgary, the economic capital of Alberta's extensive
oil and natural gas resources, widely estimated to be the world's sec-
ond largest after Saudi Arabia.
China is also looking to Africa in a big way to satisfy its endless
energy demands. It offers many African states one variation or another
of a very tempting proposal: extensive economic development assis-
tance, with few if any strings or preconditions attached, in exchange
for guaranteed access to petroleum, mineral, and timber resources.
“Give us unfettered access to that oil well, that forest, and that mine,”
China more or less says, “and we'll build you railways, highways, and
irrigation networks, and perhaps update and reequip your military,”
all with the understanding, tacit or otherwise, that China will not get
involved with matters such as human rights, democracy, or freedom
of expression and religious belief.
In concerning itself more with the natural resource wealth of African
states than with the quality of their governments and their human
rights records, China has propped up some very unsavory regimes
and individual leaders in Africa. For example, Robert Mugabe,
Zimbabwe's contumacious and reviled dictator and erstwhile
revolutionary, is still in power today in part due to Chinese economic
support. How to compete economically and diplomatically with
radical Muslims and the Chinese energy juggernaut in Africa while
at the same time holding true to cherished principles and respect for
human rights is a major challenge that the free and democratic world
will face with increasing urgency in the future.
Political and Social Stability
The Chinese Communists have staked their all on continued eco-
nomic development and prosperity in China. In their view, economic
development is the way to keep the Communist Party in China from
suffering the fates of the parties in other countries such as the Soviet
Union, Romania, Poland, and Hungary, among others. But for devel-
opment and prosperity to continue, there must be political and social
