China and Africa: A Century of Engagement

6. Military and Security Ties and Peacekeeping Missions

6 Military and Security Ties and Peacekeeping Missions Global and African Security Issues China’s security relationship with select African countries dates back to the 1950s and now extends in some fashion to all fifty African countries that recognize Beijing. It began with Chinese support for African independence movements and several revolutionary groups that opposed conservative African governments. This was part of Mao Zedong and Vice Premier and Defense Minister Lin Biao’s doctrine of revolutionary warfare and promoting wars of national liberation around the world.1 As the African countries gained independence and China’s policy became more pragmatic and less ideological, it shifted to arms transfers, contracts for military construction, increased training, and high level military exchange visits. Since the late 1990s, support for UN and African Union peacekeeping operations has become an important part of the relationship. More recently, combating Somali piracy and protecting Chinese personnel and workers in Africa have been added.2 China’s 2010 white paper on national defense states it ‘‘will never seek hegemony, nor will it adopt the approach of military expansion now or in the future, no matter how its economy develops.’’3 China has no bases in Africa and insists that it has no intention to establish any, and it has not entered into any formal military alliance with an African country. On the other hand, there is strong evidence that China is seeking to extend its naval reach into the Indian Ocean, including the east coast of Africa, so that it does not have to rely on the U.S. navy to protect the sea lanes that Military and Security Ties and Peacekeeping Missions 163 transport so much of its imported oil and minerals from Africa and the Middle East. There is a loose correlation between those African countries that are the main beneficiaries of Chinese military cooperation and those that are major suppliers of oil and minerals to China. China’s security priorities are perpetuating CPC rule, sustaining economic growth and development, maintaining domestic political stability, defending China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and securing China’s status as a great power.4 China increasingly emphasizes military operations other than war. It also participates in international security cooperation, encourages military exchanges, and promotes the establishment of military confidence-building mechanisms. China is concerned about risks posed to the global economy by terrorism, energy shortages, environmental disasters, climate change, epidemics, transnational crime, and piracy. China, because of its growing economic and military power, may be pushed by Africans to become more engaged in African security issues. The African Union has urged China to play a more active role. Its ability to maintain a low military profile in Africa is diminishing.5 China has applied these global security concerns and policies to Africa. In its 2006 Africa policy statement, China pledged to promote high level military exchanges and to continue training African military personnel. It said it will support efforts by the UN, African Union, and African regional organizations to settle conflicts and participate in peacekeeping operations. China also agreed to work with African law enforcement organizations to combat transnational organized crime, terrorism, small arms smuggling, drug trafficking, and illegal migration.6 The 2006 paper did not mention Chinese arms sales to Africa. The security component of its follow-up to FOCAC summit meetings has emphasized support for UN peacekeeping, conflict resolution, combating Somali piracy, and cooperation in dealing with natural disasters.7 The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is not an independent actor. It must coordinate with the CPC and state bureaucracy, depending on the type of military initiative contemplated and the country with which it is interacting. The PLA’s conduct of foreign military relations is a strategic activity by the Chinese leadership. It supports the larger diplomatic, political , economic, and security agenda determined by the CPC leadership and state. The political and military aspects are inseparable. Both the PLA and China’s civilian leadership view the PLA overseas military activities as a political undertaking using military means for strategic reasons, not a 164 Chapter 6 freestanding set of military initiatives conducted by military professionals for explicitly military reasons.8 It is important not to overstate the significance of China’s security and military relationship with Africa. China’s national security interests rest primarily on its periphery: South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, West Asia (including the Middle East), Russia, Japan, Mongolia, and...